Speed Racer Season 2
by Tango458
Summary: Taking place after the last episode of the original series, we follow Speed's continuing adventures in this fan-made second season! NOTE: I realize that I have already completed Speed Racer: The Invincible Car in another story, but doing things this way makes it easier for me now that I understand the website and how it formats stuff, so check in here for new stories coming soon!
1. The Invincible Car (Part 1)

Speed Racer: The Invincible Car (Part 1)

Chapter 1: The Adventure Continues

[Intro Music]

Sounds of a ratchet wrench echoed through the garage of the Racer household as Sparky worked on replacing the Mach 5's suspension after the Multi-Peak Race. "How's it going, Sparky?" a friendly voice asked. Sparky rolled himself out from under the Mach 5 to see his best friend, Speed standing there with a smile.

"I'm great, Speed. I'm almost done fixing up the Mach 5, last week's race was absolutely stellar; we need to have a repeat performance."

Speed leaned up against the wall next to the door, "Come on, Sparky, I finished in third place… thought for sure that I would've been able to beat Alpha Team, but they sure got better after that performance last year when they almost killed me and Racer X."

"Don't worry, Speed, outta the three races you ran this year, you've got a win and two podium finishes, don't beat yourself up so much about it. Besides, the next race is the No Limit World Race, the only real challenge for the Mach 5 was the Mammoth Car."

"Oh man, the Mammoth Car, huh? I remember that race pushing all of us to our limit."

"Just imagine, if the Mammoth Car wasn't there, you'd have been a shoe-in for sure!"

"Yeah, I guess you're right. It just makes me nervous remembering that race, especially when we almost got blown up. If Racer X wasn't there…"

"But he was there, Speed. You and Trixie are safe and so is the Mach 5. Besides, I thought that your escape from Lake Icy Chill was even more harrowing."

"You know what is nice, though?"

"What is it, Speed?"

"Not having Spritle and Chim Chim stowing away in the trunk since we started checking." The two friends laughed until Mom poked her head through the door.

"Okay boys, lunch is ready. Sparky, you shouldn't be in the garage so much, you'll work yourself to death." Mom informed.

"Don't worry about me, Mom. I'm always in the mood for a good lunch, even if that means leaving the Mach 5 alone for a while." Sparky reassured as Speed turned out the light and the two left the garage. As they walked into the living room, they heard the TV blaring away as Pops watched with Spritle and Chim Chim.

"I'll catch up with you in a second, Sparky. Gonna let Pops and Spritle know that everything is ready." Speed said.

"Okay Speed, but don't keep us waiting. If Mom's cookies are there, I might just eat em' all." Sparky acknowledged.

Speed walked over to the living room and saw Pops getting frustrated at a commercial, Speed was only able to catch the last bit of the commercial, but it was to sell autonomous cars which made Speed roll his eyes. "What fun is it to not drive a car, anyway?" Speed asked aloud.

"I agree, Speed, that's just what I was thinking. Cars driving themselves just isn't natural!" Pops said.

"I think cars driving themselves is a groovy idea! No work, more time to eat!" Spritle chimed in.

"Be quiet, Spritle, you're too young and lazy to understand the risks of self-driving cars! They're dangerous, no regard for anyone or anything besides their programmed destination, you can't trust them!" Pops explained.

"Gee, Pops, I didn't think of it that way." Spritle submitted.

"You have an opinion on everything, huh, Pops?" Speed chuckled. Pops folded his arms, smiling, silently agreeing with Speed. "Oh, I almost forgot that lunch is ready."

Spritle and Chim Chim ran out of the room at full speed, "You have to get all of the nutrients you can, Speed. It's going to be a twenty-four-hour race in a couple of days. Speaking of, where's Trixie? I haven't seen her anywhere." Pops asked.

"She's on her way, Pops. Now let's get some food."

As they were walking out, Speed heard the Mach 5's engine roaring through the TV, he looked back to see a talk show, showing the highlights of the three races run this season as the hosts added context. "Speed Racer, driver of the Mach 5 for Mifune Motors' 'Go Team' was the upset champion at last year's Earth Grand Prix. A race that spanned all terrain and went around the world! Speed has made the podium at all three races run this year so far, winning the second race at his home track, Thunderhead Raceway. Speed, now nineteen years old and coming out of his exciting rookie season is back for more WRL racing in his sophomore attempt at world champion glory. But first, we should recount what happened at last year's No Limit World Race when the Mach 5 was put up against the Mammoth…"

The TV was cut off and Speed felt arm caressing him from behind, "I wonder who that could be." Speed joked.

"It's your favorite navigator!" Trixie laughed.

"Glad you were able to make it, Trixie." Speed said, turning around.

"Of course, I wouldn't miss it."

"You just can't let me down, huh? Not even once?" Speed chuckled.

Trixie kissed Speed, then held his hand, "No way. Now let's go outside, you must be starving."

As Speed and Trixie joined the rest of the Racer family and friends, a small drone hovered above the house, watching them closely. As Speed and Trixie started taking their food and became distracted, the drone silently slipped into the garage and attached itself to the bottom of the Mach 5; the drone made a whirring noise before detaching itself and soaring into the air as quickly as possible. The drone silently made its way to a small, secluded high-class hotel situated in the woods and landed on the balcony of the penthouse where someone was waiting for it. The mysterious person took the drone to a computer on a desk and placed it on a white pad that was plugged into the computer via USB. The drone made another whirring sound when it was placed on the pad and the computer screen flashed, opening many windows with data sheets about the Mach 5.

"That was easier than I had expected." A feminine voice said. "Now I have all of the schematics about the Mach 5 and I didn't need that idiot, Ace Deucey's help to get it." She took a puff from her cigarette as she picked up her phone from her desk and dialed a number. "Yes, this is Oriana Flub, I have the schematics to the Mach 5." The mysterious voice mumbled something, but Oriana answered, "Yes, it was very easy to do. We finally have the power to make the Mach 5 and every car like it obsolete! We can be the fastest in the world without the V Gas!" Oriana informed. The voice inaudibly mumbled something else, "Thank you, I will talk to you again tomorrow on the test track." With that, the mysterious caller on the other end hung up and Oriana followed suit. She turned over to look at her TV, watching the same talk show that Speed was earlier, she saw a clip from last week's race and began to laugh maniacally as highlights of the Mach 5 sped across the screen.

Chapter 2: Testing at Thunderhead

The morning was quiet, the sun shining through the blinds of the racer household, but as usual, the entire family was already up and ready to get to work. Breakfast had been had, and Speed and Sparky were in the garage with the Mach 5, "Alright, Trixie, we'll see you and Pops at the track, Sparky and I are just gonna get there and set up!" Speed called out.

"Alright Speed, we'll be right behind you soon!" Trixie said as she left inside to get ready to go out.

"Alright, now for my second favorite part." Speed turned the key and the Mach 5 roared loudly in the big garage.

"If that's your second favorite part, what's your favorite all time?" Sparky asked.

Speed chuckled and put the Mach 5 into gear, "Winning." He said as they gunned it out of the garage and onto the road.

"It took a while to get used to that launch." Sparky chimed.

"Eight-Hundred foot/pounds of torque will do that." Speed chuckled.

"Wow, Speed. The GOV 12-1 engine Pops made really is a work of art, isn't it?"

"She can run a quarter mile in 9.5 seconds, top speed is still unknown, we haven't been able to get it passed 255 miles per hour. But we know it can go even faster than that after the upgrades you and Pops made after we won the Earth Grand Prix."

"That's what I call money well spent, Speed. But it looks like Alpha Team has been spending their money well, too. I know they can't over-power the Mach 5 or out-drive you, but man…they've put some upgrades into those cars and with Zoomer Slick at the wheel, it makes for a worthy opponent."

"I swear his name was Skull Duggery when we met him." Speed thought aloud.

"All of the names these racing guys have sound really fake. Don't think too much about it, it could've changed but who knows."

"Hey wait a minute."

"Don't get the wrong idea, Speed Racer is a totally normal name, and anybody could've had it."

"That's right." Speed looked over at Sparky with a raised eyebrow. "Alright, we're here." Speed announced, arriving at Thunderhead Raceway which is the oldest circuit visited by the WRL.

"What's wrong Speed? You look troubled somehow."

"This is when I first raced Racer X…when I first raced against my brother, Rex." Speed sighed.

"Rex will come home someday, Speed. You just have to hold out hope that he'll return. But he always wanted you to win and be the best in the world and that's why we're here now, getting ready for the big race tomorrow." Sparky reminded.

"You're right, Sparky and I'm going to win tomorrow. I'm gonna win for Rex Racer." Speed drove up to the track entrance gate and it lifted up leading to the pit lane. Thunderhead was usually empty since no other big-name driver lived around the area, so the Go Team could practice in solitude. Speed pulled the Mach 5 to the first pit stall, Sparky got out and popped the trunk, and grabbing his toolbox that had all the essentials in it as well as a box full of some replacement parts and fluids should something go wrong such as the brakes.

"Alright, Speed. Why don't you take some practice laps while I set up here? Besides, it won't be long until Pops and Trixie show up."

"You don't have to tell me twice!" Speed said as he vaulted into the Mach 5, strapping himself in and putting it into gear. The Mach 5 growled as Speed left the pits and drove into the first corner, a big smile growing on his face as he hit one of the straights and went wide-open, 12 cylinders singing at the top of their lungs as Speed down-shifted and drove the Mach 5 into the chicane. But as Speed was having his fun, in the spectator tower, behind the stands stood Oriana Flub; watching Speed masterfully drive his legendary car around his home track.

Oriana lifted a radio and said, "Let our newest driver loose." Before cackling to herself and taking a drag on her cigarette.

The sound of wood and plastic snapping grabbed Sparky's attention immediately, "What the…Speed, this is Sparky, some crazy driver just broke through the entrance to the track!" Sparky said over his radio. The car was a familiar gold, silver, and black and Sparky's hand began to shake.

"Who is it Sparky? I'm going as fast as I can."

"Speed, it's the GRX!" Sparky called out.

"The GRX? It can't be, we buried that engine with Ben and Curly Cranium!"

"I'm looking right at it, Speed and it's coming towards me!"

"Be careful Sparky, we'll see about this GRX." Speed said as he gunned the Mach 5 to go even faster. As he approached the pit, he saw what was without a doubt, the GRX. He would know that shape anywhere, but something was noticeably different about it, it had pitch black tinted windows and windshield and it didn't make the sound of the GRX engine being inside…so what could it be? Was someone playing some kind of sick game with him? But before Speed could answer that question, the GRX took off without warning and this forced Speed to follow suit.

"Wait, Speed! Don't risk it! Don't risk racing the GRX, remember what happened last time!"

"Sparky, I'm under the impression that this isn't the GRX and I'm going to go see if it's really true." Speed put the Mach 5 back into gear and gave chase to the mysterious car. Speed quickly caught up with it and when he did, whoever was driving didn't retaliate, they just kept driving on, it's almost like the driver of the GRX didn't recognize Speed as being there. They completed one lap, crossing the finish side-by-side!

"What's going on here? Who is Speed racing?" Pops' voice rang out as he and Trixie ran over to Sparky.

"I don't think you're going to believe this, Pops but Speed's racing what appears to be the GRX!"

"The GRX? It can't be possible!" Pops shouted.

"Oh Speed, be careful." Trixie said to herself, looking to the track, both car's engines slicing through the air.

Chapter 3: To Mexico City

Speed sat on a chair in Go Team's double-decker hauler as they made their way to Mexico City for the start of the race; his hands covering his mouth as he stared at the Mach 5 below, contemplated how the GRX could possibly be back. "Speed?" Trixie asked.

Speed shot up, surprised, "Huh? What is it, Trix?"

"Sorry I scared you, here, drink some of this." Trixie handed Speed a bottle of vitamin water.

"Thanks." Speed said, accepting the bottle, opening it and taking a swig, "Trixie, I've been thinking…"

"Speed, it can't be the GRX, you saw Pops destroy the remains of the engine, and you went to Curly's funeral. I think someone built a car that looks like it to mess with you." Trixie said, putting a hand on Speed's shoulder.

"Maybe, whoever was driving was so perfect and had the same power as me. I don't know how it's possible."

"Speed, the race coming up is two and a half days long, you'll have plenty of time to find a strategy to win."

"Any normal driver would take him out right away."

Trixie sat up straight, "Speed Racer, you're not a dirty driver like Zoomer Slick and Alpha Team!" she scolded.

Speed sighed, "I know, I just don't' like to lose."

"You won't, Speed. Do you know why?"

"Why is that?" Speed raised an eyebrow at his girlfriend.

"Because you have me!" Trixie laughed.

Speed laughed with her, "Don't get so cocky, Trix. It's going to be a big race, even bigger than last year's."

"I know, Speed. I just want you to feel better before the race. Whoever is driving this new GRX…we'll figure it out." Trixie comforted as the hauler went to cross the border.

Meanwhile, at the starting grid in Mexico City, the GRX arrives with Oriana Flub, parking itself in its own reserved garage. A group of mechanics, engineers and technicians quickly got to work as Oriana stepped out of the car and walked out of the garage and into a golf cart that took her to an unassuming RV that was outside of the starting grid. When she walked in she was greeted by a man sitting on the bench in the RV, "Oriana Flub, welcome. Or should I say Oriana Flux, how many versions of the same name do you have, anyway? Not that it matters because I know who you really are and it's only fair you know who's been paying you for everything." The man stepped from the shadows, he was wearing a blue suit and white shirt with a red tie, his glasses were golden and sat on his pointed nose, "My name is Van Ruffle, and I'm the benefactor for the oversight of our newest creation."

"Good to meet you, Mr. Van Ruffle and yes, I have a few versions of my name. It's good to finally meet the man who has been supplying the funds to our team." Oriana Flux shook Van Ruffle's hand as they both sat back down.

"Well, you and I are on the same mission. To destroy the Mach 5 and force Pops Racer to quit. Even if that means killing his son and his girlfriend in the process."

"Did you talk to the Three Roses Club?" Oriana asked.

"Yes, I did and they will also be in the race after rebuilding their team. We're going to make sure that this is a who's who of Speed Racer's enemies."

"Good, it's too bad Cruncher Block isn't coming to play."

"He's got 70 years to think about that in prison." Van Ruffle explained.

"It's so relieving to finally see Speed Racer's final race." Oriana said as she and Van Ruffle joined in a maniacal laugh.

The rumble of the Go Team's hauler echoed through the streets, "It never gets old." Speed smiled, looking around Mexico City, the massive atmosphere taking hold.

"It is a great place. So much as happened here in its history." Pops said as he parked the hauler in the outfield.

"Alright Pops, let's open the hauler and get the Mach 5 to the starting line!" Sparky called out as Pops pressed a button and the hauler's door went down, revealing the Mach 5.

"Okay, Speed. Sparky and I are going to push the Mach 5 to the garage; there are only three hours left until they close the road for the start of the race; I even noticed that they were already blocking out sections roads to accommodate all of the cars that will be coming through. So, you and Trixie should formulate a plan while you can."

Speed nodded, "You're right, Pops. We'll be in the hauler until you call us." Speed and Trixie sat on the couch on the upper level of the hauler and Trixie pulled out a map from a pink satchel. "Alright, Trix. What do I need to know about this year's race?" Speed asked.

This year's No Limit World Race takes place from Mexico City to Anchorage, Alaska spanning a little under five-thousand miles. At our rate of speed, the journey should take a little over three and days. We're going to go through the route that I'm sure the other will be driving and that's to go through the most direct one, which is to go up US-277 North, which will take around eighty-three hours to complete the sprint. The starting grid is by the Plaza de la Constitución, there's going to be a left and then a right turn onto Calle Monte de Piedad, from there, I'll guide you to the border and from there we make our way to Anchorage. Our first rest stop will be in San Angelo, Texas after 15 hours."

"15 hours?!" Speed's eyes widened at the prospect of such a long stint.

"Don't worry, Speed. We'll switch off on the way there, it would be almost impossible for you to race for that long by yourself. We're going to switch off after every three hours. This is probably going to be the easiest run, its tomorrow that'll hold the challenge. Besides, the winnings are a big deal, it could help Mifune Motors get a lot of new equipment and it even holds a qualifying card to whoever wins will get a free spot in the next big circuit race."

"That's true, Trixie." Speed sighed, looking up at the ceiling he thought to himself, _"This is gonna be one of the longest races of my career. But I've got to win, and I've got to know what the GRX is up to."_

The door to the hauler opened and shut as Pops walked in informing them, "The Mach 5 is ready you two. Let's get it to the grid and wait for the marshals to call the beginning of the race."

"Alright, Pops." Speed and Trixie said simultaneously as the two grabbed their bags and walked outside.

Speed took Trixie's bag and with one eyebrow raised, opened the trunk of the Mach 5 and saw nothing. Speed exhaled and tossed their bags in the trunk, then locking it afterward. "You're suspicious of me now, aren't you Speed?" Speed turned around to see Spritle pouting against a wall, kicking a rock away.

"You know why I am, right, Spritle?" Speed asked, walking up to him, putting his hand on Spritle's head.

"I know that Chim Chim and I were bad boys and snuck into the Mach 5 a lot. We just wanted to come on your adventures and have fun.

"Spritle, you almost died last year on the mammoth car, we both did. Maybe you should wait for a few years and then you can start having adventures of your own. Don't rush to grow up, you're just a kid so you don't understand the gravity of the danger I've been in. You don't want that, trust me."

"Whatever you say, Speed. Chim Chim and I will be cheering you and Trixie on."

Speed knelt down to Spritle's level and hugged his little brother, "I know you will, Spritle. I know I can count on you."

"Be careful, Speed."

"We will." Speed assured as he got up and walked to the Mach 5, getting in it with Trixie as Sparky, Pops, and Spritle pushed it to the starting grid as Speed steered and Trixie set up. Once the Mach 5 sat still in its spot, Sparky walked over to the driver's seat. "Alright Speed, everything checks out, the Mach 5 is running at one-hundred percent."

"Thanks, Sparky. I couldn't ask for a better mechanic to work on the car." Speed said, shaking Sparky's hand.

"We'll be watching from the chopper above; Pops and I will see you in San Angelo." Sparky said, going to the garages to wait for the beginning of the race. Speed noticed Pops looking all around the car.

"Something wrong, Pops?" Speed asked.

"No, just double checking, triple checking… you know how it is, Speed."

"It's okay, Pops. I'm sure you and Sparky did a groovy job." Speed chuckled.

"I just worry every time you two go out on these big rally races, Speed. Dangers lurk around every turn and you don't know what kind of drivers are in the race. All 150 slots were filled and there are a lot of people here. We'll be in constant radio contact."

"Speed is a great driver, Pops. I'm sure we'll be safe."

"Steer him the right way, Trixie. And you too, Speed. Make sure you two get enough rest so you don't give in to fatigue during the race."

"You got it Pops." Speed acknowledged.

It was then, that the announcer spoke over the loudspeaker, "All drivers to your cars please, all drivers to your cars."

Chapter 4: Zoomer Slick's Plan

"All drivers to your cars, please. All drivers to your cars! Todos los conductores a sus autos, por favor. Todos los conductores a sus autos!" The announcers called out as some of the drivers who weren't already on the grid made their ways to their racecars.

Speed looked at the clock that sat on a sponsored arch the marked the starting line. "Wow, look at all of the drivers, Pops, I bet they're gonna give Speed and Trixie a hard time!" Spritle commented. But his comment was met with a belly laugh from Pops Racer.

"They can try, Spritle but it's going to be difficult to beat the Mach 5 and even harder to beat Speed!"

"Well, in Chim Chim's opinion, it's gonna be a challenge, right Chim Chim?" Spritle looked behind him where he expected to see his pet chimp but Chim Chim was nowhere to be seen! "Huh? Where's Chim Chim?" Spritle asked as the announcers' voices rang out again.

"Drivers, start your engines! Controladores İenciende tus motores!" 150 engines roared through the Mexican air in the heart of their capital!

"Here goes!" Speed announced, turning the key of the Mach 5. The car's custom-built 12-cylinder, naturally aspirated engine growled with over one-thousand horses ready to pull Speed and Trixie at speeds in excess of 250 miles per hour! Speed reached in his pocket and took out Spritle's good luck charm that his little brother had given him during the Alpine Race last year. Speed squeezed it for good luck before stuffing the charm back in his pocket.

"You know, despite always getting into trouble and sometimes being insufferable, Spritle is a good kid. It's good that you keep that charm around, Speed." Trixie said, strapping on her pink and black helmet.

"He is, hopefully, he's grown out of being a little stowaway." Speed laughed.

Back in the crowd, Spritle searches for his friend, Chim Chim to no avail, "Chim Chim? Chim Chim!" he called out, running through the crowd. Spritle then heard the roar of the engines on the grid and ran to go see Speed and the Mach 5, but as he did, he saw the trunk open with Chim Chim inside, holding a bobby pin. "Chim Chim, that's a bad boy, I'm telling Pops!" he yelled, but Chim Chim didn't hear and probably didn't understand what Spritle said as he retreated back into the trunk.

"Alright, Trixie, one minute until we're out of here." Speed said. "Just be careful, Speed. The roads in the early parts of this course are going to be very skinny, so a lot of people are bound to crash." Trixie warned.

"Got it." Speed answered as his blue eyes were fixed on the clock and as the clock was five seconds from ten in the morning, red lights began to light up for each second and as the minute hand struck ten, the lights went green and a loud *beep* was heard around the grid! Vehicles of all sorts launched from the starting grid, from sports cars to compacts to SUVs and even some experimental cars, all sorts of cars left, but it was obvious who had the real power! Speed maneuvered the Mach 5 gracefully through the field, despite the chaos, Speed was calm. Sure, he was only nineteen years old and still considered a kid by most professional racers, but Speed had a poker face that could impress any veteran of the sport when he was racing. But the racing soon became very dicey as the cars hit the narrow streets of history Mexico City that had to be walled off with concrete barriers and catch fences because the streets were so narrow that only two cars could fit without touching each other. The Mach 5 was suddenly surrounded by crashes, but Speed stayed calm and pressed the D button to protect him and Trixie from flying debris and then pressed the A button, using the auto jacks to leap above the crashing cars!

"Oof!" Trixie let out as the Mach 5 landed with a hard thud, "I think we need softer seats in this car." She said.

"Same, doing that is a pain." Speed admitted as the two sped along to the US-Mexico border with the other cars that didn't crash. Meanwhile, further back in the pack, the new GRX had to start in last being a last-minute entry into the No-Limit World Race. But its stay in last place didn't last for long as it also got far ahead of the other drivers. But as the pile-up mounted on the dangerously thin Mexican streets, the GRX plowed through the other cars! Drivers who were stuck or were escaping their smoldering wreckages had to quickly jump out of the way because the GRX was not going to stop for anyone, injured or stuck! The black, silver and green car continued on with reckless abandon, heading for one target, and that target was the Mach 5!

Van Ruffle laughed as he watched the black car smash through crashes, "This car is outstanding! Wherever did you find the driver who has instincts like that?"

Oriana Flux chuckled in return, "We didn't find a driver, Mr. Van Ruffle. We **built** a driver. There isn't a driver on Earth who has such dulled survival instincts that is still stable enough to drive this car."

"What're you saying, Oriana?" Van Ruffle questioned.

"I'm saying, Mr. Van Ruffle that the car has no human driver, it's driving itself and after many tests, it has the ability to calculate the perfect racing line anywhere it goes. The computer in the car learns from every new experience, every new mistake. Frankly, Mr. Van Ruffle, you have the greatest driver in the world on your team." Flux explained. Van Ruffle could only look in shock and awe at this new prospect as Flux added, "The new GRX also has abilities to counter the Mach 5, and I guarantee you that it will be the end for our friend, Speed Racer and his little girlfriend."

Outside sits the yellow Shooting Star #9 with Racer X eavesdropping with a listening device, "Speed is in trouble. I must warn him, but I told him that he'd never hear from me again. But I can't let this happen... I won't." Racer X thought to himself as he started the Shooting Star and went to chase down the GRX and Mach 5!

"Oh boy." Speed sighed.

"What is it, Speed?"

"Slick is up ahead, he's not going to make anything easy, right up to the switch-off point at San Luis Potosi."

Trixie huffed and folded her arms, "Zoomer Slick is always up to skullduggery, I don't trust him at all."

Speed grinned and added, "Also, because he's rude."

Trixie raised her nose in the air, "That too." She finished as the Mach 5 came up behind Zoomer's red #2.

Slick looked in his rear-view mirror, "The Mach 5's come to play, huh?" he grinned as he pulled a lever in his car which lifted his license plate, which opened a reservoir of slippery coolant fluid that spilled all over the road!

"Look out!" Trixie shouted as the Mach 5 ran right over the fluid causing Speed to nearly lose control but he held on, as the car started the slide sideways, he turned the Mach 5 in the direction he needed to be and pressed the B button, deploying the Belt Tires that immediately stopped the Mach 5 from its slide and got it back on track. Speed shortly caught back up to Zoomer Slick but pulled along-side as to avoid any other tricks Slick might have.

"What's the big idea, Slick?!" Speed shouted from the Mach 5.

"You know how it is, Speed. I know the Mach 5 is faster than me so I have to take you out of the race!" Slick answered.

"Why is it so hard for you to drive square?" Speed asked.

"It's not hard, I just find it boring." Slick grinned.

"After this trick, Speed is going to do everything he can to beat you, isn't that right, Speed?" Trixie interjected.

"Uh-huh." Speed answered.

"Aww, look at that, world champion Speed Racer taking orders from a girl!" Slick chided.

"At least I'm not a loner like you. You couldn't even get a navigator!" Speed shot back.

Slick's grin turned into a scowl, "Oh yeah? I'm a loser, huh?" he grumbled as he pushed a red button on his shifter and began to go at a ridiculously fast speed.

"I should've known." Speed noted.

"What? How'd he get so fast?" Trixie asked in shock.

"He has nitrous oxide built into his car, basically giving him a speed boost at the touch of a button." Speed explained.

"Is that even legal?" Trixie asked.

"Anything goes, and so do we." Speed said as he gave the Mach 5 more gas and started to catch up to Slick's nitrous #2.

"Wow, they're going at it down there!" Sparky remarked.

"Good, I didn't train Speed to lie down and lose! I trained him to win!" Pops answered.

"Isn't Speed's cousin, Hank and Mr. Fireball the ones that trained Speed to drive like a pro?" Sparky asked.

"Quiet!" Pops yelled.

Spritle sat in the helicopter, looking down, focusing on the Mach 5's trunk, "I hope Chim Chim is alright." He said quietly to himself.

"What? What was that about Chim Chim?" Pops asked.

"N-nothing Pops, I just miss Chim Chim, that's all." Spritle said.

"Wait a minute, I thought you brought Chim Chim with you, you never leave him alone." Sparky added.

"Hey, that's right you did bring Chim Chim along." Pops thought until he came to a realization. "Is Chim Chim in the trunk of the Mach 5?!" Pops Interrogated.

"I'm sorry, Pops! I didn't know, but Chim Chim stole my lockpick and got into the trunk, even I didn't know where he went until it was too late!" Spritle confessed.

Sparky quickly grabbed the radio, "Sparky to the Mach 5, Sparky to the Mach 5, come in!"

Trixie took the radio, "This is Trixie, what is it, Sparky?" she asked.

"Spritle just told us that Chim Chim stowed away in the trunk of the Mach 5's trunk!"

"You're kidding!" Speed shouted.

"We can land up ahead at the San Luis Potosi Checkpoint when you guys switch out. But until then, be careful!"

"Got it, we'll be careful Sparky!" Speed acknowledged as Trixie put the radio away. Speed and Trixie sighed, looked at each other and shrugged like they should've expected this to happen.

"We're about to come upon San Luis." Trixie announced.

"Yeah, I'm gonna pass Slick before we get there." Speed said, challenging himself. The Mach 5 gained on Zoomer Slick and pulled along-side to make the pass.

"Not you again!" Zoomer shouted as he reverted back to his base instincts and smacked the Mach 5, hitting it over and over, trying to force it into the desert.

"Alright, I think he's had enough." Speed said as he activated the C Button, bringing out the cutter blades, "I didn't wanna do it like this, Slick." Speed growled, but as he was about to cut down Slick's tires, Trixie put her hand on Speed's arm.

"No, Speed! You don't have to stoop down to his level. You can show him how a real gentleman races." Speed thought for a moment before retracting the huge circular saws.

"You're right. I'll beat him like anyone else would." Speed said as he continued on.

Slick reached for his radio and spoke into it, "I'm outta nitrous and coolant. What do I do?" Slick asked.

Through the radio came Oriana Flux's voice, "Do what you normally do, wreck the Mach 5 at all costs!"

"I'm trying, but he keeps on coming back!" he shouted.

"Don't get shouty with me, Slick. The GRX is still making its way through the field so you're not going to have reinforcements. But I'll raise the five thousand I proposed if you take out Speed Racer, right here, right now." Oriana notified.

Slick put his radio away and reached for his glove compartment, pulling out a gun, "Hey, Racer!" he shouted.

"Oh!" Speed exclaimed, pressing the D Button as fast as he could, bullets bounced off of the glass as Slick fired until his clip as empty. It was then that Speed looked over at Slick angrily, he slowed the Mach 5 down and slammed it into the #2's left rear, sending the car into the desert sand, causing it to flip on its side.

Zoomer Slick got out and looked at the Mach 5 speeding away, "Damn you." Slick muttered, gripping his empty gun in the middle of the desert.

"We're here, let's get to the checkpoint and switch off, Speed." Trixie said as the Mach 5 crossed into San Luis Potosi.

"Good idea. That whole thing made me tired…and hungry." Speed admitted.

The Mach 5's horn sounded as it reached the San Luis Potosi checkpoint, "Checkpoint passes." The official said as Speed handed him the proper documents as he and Trixie switched seats, "The Mach 5 driven by Speed Racer." The officer read aloud as he stamped the checkpoint pass. As he handed the papers back, the officer commented, "I always wanted to see the Mach 5 in person, I hope you two win the race!"

"We will, officer! Thanks!" Speed said as Trixie took the papers and the two continued on their way to meet up with Pops, Sparky and Spritle at the helicopter.

Chapter 5: Mélange Still Races!

Trixie drove up to her familiar bright blue and red helicopter where the rest of the Go Team was waiting for her, Speed and Chim Chim. As she stopped, Speed was out of the car right away to go open the trunk and when he did, lo-and-behold, Chim Chim sat there in the middle of crumbs and other lunch foods.

"Chim Chim…" Speed scolded.

"Chim Chim, that's a bad monkey, we need that food for the race!" Trixie shouted.

Spritle then walked up to them with a huge picnic basket in hand, "What's this?" Speed asked.

"I knew Chim Chim was gonna eat your lunches, so we got you new lunches when we landed. Here, take em'!" Spritle offered.

Without a second thought, Speed took the basket and looked inside, it was all locally bought, authentic Mexican cuisine, a smile grew on his face as he looked back at Spritle, "Thanks, Spritle, that was very thoughtful of you. Keep a closer eye on Chim Chim from now on, though, okay?"

"I will, Speed, don't you worry!" Spritle acknowledged.

"Alright, Trixie, the car is in tip-top shape for your stint! I also brought you some new bottles of water for the drive." Sparky notified.

"Thanks, Sparky. I'm glad you're not trying to lift me out of the car this year." Trixie laughed.

"Well, I'm sixteen now, so I gotta grow up! I was jealous back then and I shouldn't have done what I did." Sparky admitted.

"Oh, Sparky, you've done so much since then that you don't need to apologize. I mean, in the end, it was you and Speed in the Race Around the World. I'd say you've grown up already." Trixie complimented.

Sparky rubbed the back of his head, "Yeah, I guess so, maybe I should build myself a car and call it the Mach 6!"

"Not so fast, Sparky, you're not even trained yet." Speed said as he got into the passenger seat with the basket.

"Oh, you gotta be the glory-hog, huh, Speed?" Sparky remarked. Speed winked and stuck out his tongue as a sarcastic confirmation. "But really, Speed, if I ever race, will you teach me?"

"You bet. But for now, be busy being the best mechanic in the world, huh?" Speed said.

"I will." Sparky returned as the two shook hands over it.

"Well, back into the race, Trixie. Next stop, Saltillo!" Speed commanded as Trixie floored the Mach 5 back on course and went towards Saltillo. Speed coached Trixie as they made their ways to Saltillo, she was calm but not as calm as Speed was, especially coming up on cars that were still in front of them because she was so eager to race.

"How are there cars still in front?" She asked, irritated.

"The pileup back in Mexico City bought them a lot of time. The Mach 5 is fast, yes, but the others are nothing to sneeze at." Speed explained as they reached Saltillo and switched yet again, Speed's second stint took them from Saltillo to Monclova which was generally uneventful, the caught and passed a couple of cars but it wasn't anything too exciting. Thus, Trixie's next turn began.

"Alright, Monclova to Del Rio and then you finish in Texas. Then we can both sleep." Trixie said as she took off in the Mach 5 again. The drive was once again, very calm until night really began to fall and a dark blue and light grey car appeared behind them. Trixie tried to pull away but it didn't do much as the other car tried to pull her back in, that's when the front of the car glowed with the combined letter and number X-3.

"Uhhh, Speed." Trixie said, shaking Speed awake from his nap.

"Wha…what is it, Trixie?"

"I think I'm seeing ghosts, Speed."

"Huh" Speed looked back and saw the Mélange from his past. "There's no way that car is here!" Speed exclaimed.

"Someone is trying to stop us by bringing back your old enemies, Speed."

"It looks like it, give the Mach 5 some more gas!" Speed ordered.

"I'm going as fast as the car will let me, Speed."

Speed looked back and thought fast, "I have a plan, where's your bag?"

"In the trunk, what's your plan, Speed?"

Speed un-buckled his seatbelt, "Did you bring supplies from the chopper just in case?"

"I think I brought one smoke bomb if that's what you mean."

"That's exactly what I mean." Speed said, as he tied the seatbelt to his ankle and started to crawl over to the trunk.

The X-3's sign began to flash as the car blared its horn and drove to the back of the Mach 5, slamming into it, jostling the car around, Speed hung on for dear life as he felt the trunk's release. He took his trunk key and put it in, turning it made the latch of the trunk pop up. As the key was turned in the unlock position, he pressed the lock back down, which opened up the trunk, revealing his and Trixie's bags. As he tried to reach, the X-3 rear-ended the Mach 5 again and again, the jolting started to make Speed's makeshift support go loose as Speed opened Trixie's bag and dug through her clothes to retrieve her smoke bomb.

"It's the only one we have, Speed so make it count!" Trixie called out. But as Speed was about to make his way back to safety, the X-3 slammed into the Mach 5 even harder, making Trixie swerve and untying Speed! Trixie noticed this just in time and leaned over, just able to grab the end of Speed's white slacks. Speed's face was one of fear but then he looked back at Trixie who was holding onto him for dear life. "I can't pull you back in, Speed, you're too heavy!" she called.

"Trixie, I'm going to try to land on the Mélange!"

"But Speed isn't that dangerous?"

"Look at our lives, Trixie, we live fast and dangerously, now let me go, I've got this!" Speed called back. Trixie took a deep breath and let Speed go, Speed slid across the back of the Mach 5 and onto the smooth surface of the X-3. Like before, he forced the X-3's hood open but this time, he threw the smoke grenade inside. As he pulled the pin, he hopped in the car's empty driver's seat as the smoke grenade blew and ruined the remote-controlled insides of the car. As it slowed to a halt, speed wiped the sweat from his forehead as Trixie stopped with him.

"Speed? Speed?" She called out.

Speed got out of his car, "I'm alright, Trix." As she ran to him and hugged him.

"Who is doing this, Speed? It's almost like someone is trying to jog bad memories."

"That's exactly what I think it is, Trixie. I just don't know why." Speed muttered.

"Let's get you in the Mach 5, it's not long until Del Rio." Trixie put her hand on Speed's back and walked him over to the Mach 5, where they headed over to the nearest checkpoint.

Meanwhile, in a hotel in the center of Del Rio, "Great, the X-3 is down. Maybe using enemies this kid has already defeated was a bad idea." Mr. Van Ruffle complained or Oriana Flux who was just coming out of the shower.

"The X-3 lost?" she said in shock.

"Yeah, if you weren't too busy being a typical girl, you'd know." Van Ruffle remarked.

"I don't know what keeping my personal hygiene up has to do with anything, Mr. Van Ruffle. Do you not shower? Forget that I asked, you smoke so many cigars that I don't think I'd be able to tell." She responded.

Van Ruffle smirked, "Hah, well it doesn't matter because now Slick and the X-3 lost. How'd the X-3 lose, anyway, isn't it a computer-driven car like the new GRX?"

"It's remote controlled, we had agents controlling it from a helicopter and unfortunately they failed. They'll pay for their failure." Oriana hissed, going over to her bag and grabbing a remote, pressing the "#1" button. Back with the Mach 5, an explosion happened from above their car, orange and yellow reflecting off of the white paint.

"Look out, Trixie!" Speed shouted.

Trixie reacted quickly by pressing the D and B buttons simultaneously, the B Button's second ability was giving the Mach 5 a temporary boost of power, normally meant for scaling mountains, but in this case, it was for raw speed. Helicopter debris clanked and clattered on and around the car but it was then that the bulk of the helicopter fell in front of them, Trixie, having no time to scream, pressed the A Button as fast as she could launching the Mach 5 in the air over the burning wreckage. She then stopped the car as she and Speed got out to check for survivors and to their dismay, there was none. "Who could do something so awful, Speed?" she asked.

"I don't know, Trixie. But as soon as we get to Del Rio, I'm giving Inspector Detector a call to meet us in San Angelo. If anyone can figure this out, it's him." Speed said as they returned to the Mach 5 and reached the Del Rio checkpoint, currently in tenth place.

Chapter 6: San Angelo

The sun shone over the Mach 5, it was morning and Trixie was behind the wheel again as the two reached the border and crossed into Texas. "How much longer?" Speed asked, bored out of his mind.

"It's three hours from here to San Angelo at this pace." Trixie answered. Speed pouted and folded his arms, slumping into the passenger's seat. Trixie glanced over, smiled and rolled her eyes as she slowed down and pulled over. Speed's eyes lit up as he unbuckled and moved over to the driver's seat and Trixie went back in the passenger's side. The two buckled in, Speed put the Mach 5 in first gear and the two went speeding off again.

In the back of the pack, the mysterious black, green and silver GRX continued to go past the other cars with complete disregard for where they were. The car would only follow the most perfect driving line wherever it went, not giving an inch to anyone. One driver was going as fast as his car would carry him going on the same driving line as the GRX, but the GRX came up on him quickly and smashed him out of the way and continued to press on. The driver lifted up his goggles and remarked, "What kind of maniac is driving that car?" as other drivers who saw what happened stopped to help him.

In Mexico City, Mr. Van Ruffle and Oriana Flux were in a hotel watching the race unfold, "Wow, Oriana that car is ridiculous. How'd you get it to go as fast as the GRX?"

Oriana Flux puffed from her cigarette and blew the smoke in Van Ruffle's face, "You really think we didn't take the engine apart and study it in the months we had it? Do you think I'm stupid?" Van Ruffled grumbled to himself, not used to being treated this way, "I almost had Speed Racer hooked on the GRX and ready to take the V-Gas! I had him afraid to get back into the Mach 5! The only reason I didn't was because of Pops Racer!"

"Now there's someone we both love to hate." Van Ruffle smiled.

"Indeed, Mr. Van Ruffle. But if I recall, you were the one that ousted Pops from the company to steal his plans and failed, thus causing our entire Racer problem. Think of this as penance for everyone behind bars that you technically put there."

"I've had enough of your criticisms!" Van Ruffle slammed his fist on a coffee table.

Oriana laughed at him and answered, "Don't be so insecure because the GRX will destroy Speed Racer AND the Mach 5! It's only a matter of time before it catches up to them so sit down and watch the race."

"There's Speed!" Sparky called out as the Mach 5 crested the horizon and Speed honked its horn upon arrival.

The Mach 5 slowed down and stopped at the hotel in San Angelo, "Speed, Sparky is going to start working on the Mach 5 and I'm going to debrief you two on the next legs of the race and on how you're doing." Pops notified, opening the trunk and grabbing Speed and Trixie's bags.

"That's right Speed, the Mach 5 will be back in tip-top shape for tomorrow!" Sparky called out gleefully as Speed activated the jacks for his mechanic.

"I know we can count on you, Sparky." Speed threw his buddy a thumbs-up.

"You bet, Sparky keep up the good work." Trixie smiled. Sparky beamed and got to work right away as Speed, Trixie and Pops went into the hotel.

Once they got to their room, there was candy wrappers, empty soda cans and other snacks littered all over the place and there sat Spritle and Chim Chim, enjoying themselves, "Spritle, what's going on here? Making a mess of things, huh?" Pops scolded.

"There was free food already here, Pops I didn't steal anything, it was Chim Chim's idea!" Chim Chim gave a surprised and betrayed look whilst stuffing his face with snacks.

"All the snacks and soda cost extra money that we need to spend on the Mach 5! Now clean this up and go to your room!" Pops ordered.

"But Pops!" Spritle tried to defend himself but Pops gave him a look and the two cleaned up and left the room.

"Well, that was something." Trixie commented as she sat on one of the beds.

"They're always up to something, we need to invest in a leash." Speed joked, sitting at a desk.

"A leash…I haven't thought of that." Pops thought aloud until realizing he had to debrief them, "Alright Speed, on your way here, you passed two cars, you're currently sitting in eighth place. Luckily for you, four other drivers are staying here overnight so if you get out before or when they do, you'll be in the top five."

"I like the sound of that." Trixie said.

"Mmmhm, the others who went longer can't be too far away." Speed agreed.

"Well, that brings us to my next piece of news. It seems like that black GRX is really tearing it up through the field. Running down cars and even smashing them off the road as long as someone is in its path. You two are going to have to be careful of that one because whoever is driving is ruthless."

"Sounds like trouble. I'll be on the lookout." Speed said.

"Our next stops are Amarillo and Denver, right?" Trixie asked.

"That's right, the next checkpoint is in Amarillo, but the officials say that there's a challenge segment coming up when you reach the Colorado Rockies." Pops answered.

"Hey, I just remembered something, has Inspector Detector been around at all? I called him earlier." Speed asked.

"No, I don't recall seeing the inspector. But I'll see if I can get ahold of him in the morning." Pops said.

"Alright, is that all? I'm getting tired." Speed asked.

"That's all, I'm going to help Sparky tune the Mach 5, so you two get your rest. Goodnight, son. Goodnight, Trixie" Pops said as he walked out.

"Goodnight, Pops." The duo answered as Pops left the room.

"The GRX, huh? I'm worried about it, Speed. Especially after what happened to you and Curly Cranium last year."

"Yeah. But we're gonna have to put it out of our minds if we're going to win the race." Speed said as he grabbed his sleep-wear and went to change.

Meanwhile, in the dead of night, Racer X stops at the border, "I got a call from Speed. Someone seems to be setting him up to lose this race…or worse." Inspector Detector said, getting into the passenger seat of the Shooting Star.

"I know, I saw Speed racing Zoomer Slick earlier and then saw the X-3 sitting on the side of the road. Even the Three Roses Club entered the race. Something is going on here." Racer X answered as he gunned the Shooting Star along the same route that the Mach 5 had been taking.

"There!" Inspector Detector pointed as the GRX's red taillights and green glowing insides came into view; Racer X gave the car more throttle, getting the turbo-charged V8 roaring and whining into the night. Racer X drove right up beside the car, "I can't see through the lights inside!" Inspector Detector reported.

From Mexico City, Oriana watches a live feed from the GRX and goes to her suitcase, pulling out a remote with a joystick and some buttons, "Why don't you get closer Inspector?" she said, taking the joystick and lightly guiding the stick left.

"Watch out, Racer X!" Inspector Detector shouted as the GRX slammed into the Shooting Star.

"Hey!" Racer X yelled, fighting to keep the Shooting Star on the road. "Whoever is driving the GRX is dangerous."

"You have to report this to Speed!" Inspector Detector notified. Racer X stayed silent, remembering what he said to Speed before. Now that Speed knew his true identity, he would disappear from his younger brother's life entirely. Racer X pondered this, remembering hitting Speed and running away as Speed called out for him, but he knew that as long as his brother raced cars, he couldn't be far behind, he wouldn't.

"We will, let's get to Denver and meet him there." Racer X said as the Shooting Star tailed the GRX and continued until morning.

Chapter 7: Legends and Upstarts

It was almost time for the GO Team to wake up as Speed was having a very rough night. He was driving the Mach 5 in what appeared to be a very rocky and barren landscape and he heard multiple engines buzzing behind him; he looked in his rearview mirror and saw that it was a large gang of motorcycles. He pushed the Mach 5 harder and began to pull away despite having a disadvantage in weight, that's when bullets began to whizz past his head, he pressed the D Button and the bulletproof canopy didn't deploy so he made sure that the driver's cowl was protecting him, shrinking down as much as he could as the bullets bounced and scraped off of the Mach 5's curves. As Speed drove, the road got narrower and narrower until the Mach 5 could barely fit! Speed decided to see this through as he stepped on the gas but that was until an obstacle presented itself to him in the form of a huge boulder, but Speed knew he could jump it. He went faster and faster until he reached the perfect distance and slammed the A Button but all he heard was the noise of the powerful hydraulics but with nothing happening and before he knew it he slammed full on into the boulder and shot awake in his bed!

"Speed, are you alright? You were thrashing around and sweating." Trixie said, kneeling down beside Speed.

"I just…I just had a bad dream." Speed answered, rubbing the cold sweat off of his forehead.

"What was it, Speed?"

"Nothing, I don't wanna talk about it right now." Speed said as he grabbed his clothes and headed to the bathroom to shower and change.

An hour later, everyone was gathered around the Mach 5 as Sparky and Pops finished telling Speed what was changed and tweaked, "We'll see you in Denver, Speed. Just be careful because I hear that the GRX passed us last night, they haven't stopped to rest at all, so you're in ninth, but you'll be in fifth when you get out of here since we're leaving earlier than everyone else." Pops informed.

"Thanks, Pops. See you in Denver for whatever the WRL has in store for us." Speed acknowledged as he turned on the Mach 5 and promptly left San Angelo.

Close to the border of New Mexico and Colorado, the leaders fought for position, fighting for first place was the #24, driven by Left Gordon and the #1, driven by Lovelace Goldminter. The two entered the mountains almost side by side, Lovelace almost edging out Left, the two stayed overnight at the Amarillo checkpoint and left Amarillo at the same time, they've been in the tops spots since the beginning of the race and have been fighting for the lead almost the whole time.

"Man, her dad sure went all in on her racing career after she got runner-up in the World Grand Prix." Left thought to himself, glancing at the blue, yellow and white car as the two became surrounded by mountains.

"Hey, Left, the Mach 5 just reached Amarillo checkpoint, jumped from ninth to fourth this morning and Speed is gaining on you three." Left's crew chief notified.

"10-4, just gotta get Lovelace behind me." Left responded as he brought his blue and red flame themed car a little behind Lovelace to draft her.

"What's he doing? Why'd he slow down?" Lovelace asked over the radio.

"He's drafting off of you, it's an oval track move where you follow closely behind a car ahead to reduce drag, making the air flow over both of you as if you're one car. But, here's the catch and listen carefully, this may give you a boost of speed by about five miles per hour, but if he moves out of the draft, he'll slingshot passed you because he doesn't have to deal with moving air out of the way, so he naturally goes a little faster." Lovelace's new assistant, Burges Halfdollar informed.

"What if I move out of the way? Or slow down?"

"If you move out of the way, you open the door for him to pass you. If you slow down, he'll just move aside and pass you as well. You're stuck in this position until he passes." Halfdollar explained as Lovelace looked at Left in her rear-view mirror.

That was when Left pulled out and drove alongside Lovelace, and then took the lead with relative ease, "That's what I'm talking about, leader is the #24." Left's chief chimed as the two continued their battle with the GRX not too far away.

Meanwhile, at the Amarillo checkpoint, Speed pulled up to the WRL official and handed the official the checkpoint sheet, "Any news, sir?" Speed asked.

"Yeah, not too long ago that black car came through, really rude guy behind the wheel, I bet he's full of himself."

"How so?" Trixie interjected.

"He couldn't even hand me his checkpoint sheet, it just slid through a slot in the window of his car."

"If you don't mind me asking, what'd he look like?" Speed added.

"I couldn't see past the bright green lights inside of his car. I dunno how he even sees." The official stated.

"Interesting. Thanks for the information." Speed thanked.

"No problem, now get outta here before Left Gordon and Lovelace Goldminter win!" the official said as Speed gunned it out of Amarillo.

"Lovelace Goldminter? The girl from the World Grand Prix last year?" Trixie inquired.

"That's the one. I'm glad she's not sore after I called her a spoiled brat during that race." Speed chuckled.

"You did?" Trixie gasped.

"Yeah. Before the race began I was hanging out at a bar to get some time alone, remember?"

"Yeah, you were really nervous."

"Well, I got into a fight with some jerks and she was there and asked me about the girl who was being offered to the winner of the race, I said that said girl is probably a spoiled brat, not knowing I was talking directly to that person."

"Oh Speed, I'm glad she forgave you, some girls would hold a big grudge over something like that."

"Well, she came in second place and definitely earned my respect and I earned hers after fighting that great white shark…" Speed tried to stop himself mid-sentence but failed, neither he nor Sparky had told Trixie that he fought and killed a great white shark with a pocket knife that day during the speedboat section of the World GP.

"You what?!" Trixie shouted.

Speed shrunk, "Nothing, never mind." He shrugged.

"Speed Racer, what do you do when I'm not around? I can't leave you anywhere!" Trixie lectured as they raced off into the sunset, not stopping until Denver.

"How're we still in third? I thought your car didn't have to stop!" Van Ruffle shouted.

"Oh, be quiet! There's no such thing as an unlimited fuel source, the car still has to stop to charge itself and that battle with Racer X drained the battery even more than it should have. So, it had to stop and our team had to fix any fatigued parts before continuing. Didn't you work for an Engine Company? What use are you anyway?" Oriana retorted.

"I'm your income, Ms. Flux so you'd better start treating me with respect. I'm tired of you getting wise all of the time!"

"I wouldn't have to if you'd sit and learn about the project you're funding with your own money."

"See? That's what I'm talking about!"

"Where is this coming from anyway? I thought you were happy with the GRX?"

Van Ruffle sighed with his back turned to Oriana, "I was thinking about what you said last night and you're right. If it wasn't for me being stupid and firing Pops Racer, this whole Mach 5 problem wouldn't have happened."

"I was waiting for you to admit that to yourself." Oriana said as a *pew* *pew* rang out and Mr. Van Ruffle fell to the ground. "I think everyone deserves to rest in peace." Flux jeered as she put the silenced pistol back into her large purse and left the hotel in Mexico City with her and Van Ruffle's briefcases and headed to the airport to catch a flight to Denver, Colorado.

Chapter 8: Denver Checkpoint

In the mountains, Left Gordon and Lovelace Goldminter continue their battle as they blast through the city of Pueblo, Colorado. But they are shortly joined by an unexpected guest as the GRX catches up to the two leaders!

"Who's that?" Lovelace asked her new assistant, Burges Halfdollar.

"That's the big unknown in this race, but its structure is exactly like controversial GRX that appeared last year and killed Curly Cranium, the son of Bent Cranium who invented the engine. Be careful, it is definitely faster than you are and in this race, it has done nothing but smash other drivers out of the way if they don't get out of the way for him."

"Get out of the way? What is this, Formula 1? This is a race, so we race!" Lovelace shouted in disbelief.

"I would advise moving, Ms. Goldminter. He hits very hard, hard enough to have ended a few people's careers already in this race." Halfdollar warned.

Lovelace thought and then huffed in frustration, "Fine. But as soon as I get the chance, he's going down." The GRX was approaching at a little over 210 miles per hour as Left Gordon and Lovelace moved over to their respective sides of the track, allowing the GRX to pass them.

"What's his problem?" Left remarked.

"I dunno, just a jerk it seems. We'll get him back." The crew chief said over the radio as Left and Lovelace continued.

Not long after, Speed and Trixie entered Pueblo as the people of Pueblo cheered for the Mach 5's arrival. "Wow, all of the fans came, huh?" Speed said while taking a brief rest from driving.

"Mmmhm, I'm glad that there are so many fans." Trixie smiled.

"They're what keeps the team and Mifune Motors well off. They even help me make a show of things when I'm at my best." Speed added.

"Why is it called 'Mifune Motors' again?" Trixie asked.

"It was Grandma's maiden name, on Pop's side." Speed said.

"That's very sweet of him." Trixie said until a thought came to mind, "Would you name something after me, Speed?"

Speed raised an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"

"Would you name a car after me? Or a race?"

"Oh boy. I don't see people buying a car named Trixie. Hmmmm…I guess if I had the money I'd start a charity or something." Speed thought.

"Jeez, don't give yourself a headache, Speed." Trixie laughed.

"I'm being honest, though. The 'Trixie Shimura Foundation' has a nice ring to it."

Trixie's face became flush, "Let's just catch up to the others." She said, not expecting him to think it out so exactly, it was almost like he thought about this before. Speed closed his eyes and grinned as the Mach 5 closed the gap between it at the top three.

Forty-five minutes later, the Mach 5 reached Denver and noticed that every car was stopped at the WRL checkpoint. "Huh? What's going on?" Speed wondered as Trixie stopped the Mach 5 next to Lovelace's.

"Well, look who it is." Left said walking over to the passenger's side of the Mach 5.

"Hey, Left." Speed greeted as he shook Left's hand.

"Nice to see you, too, Trixie." Left said, shaking Trixie's hand.

"It's an honor to meet you." She returned.

"What's going on, Left? Why's everyone stopped here?" Speed asked.

"The WRL said we have to stop here to start the next stage and gather the field back up to start again." He explained.

"That's just silly, we could've gone on with the race!" Trixie exclaimed.

"I don't know about that, the GRX or…whatever it is passed Goldminter and I and pulled away like we were nothing. I don't know what it's going to take to beat them, but it's going to take a special car and a special driver to get the job done." Left said, winking at the two. "Well, I'm outta here, I'm craving some fries. Race doesn't resume for a few hours to take it easy and relax." Left told them as he departed.

"Will do, see you later, Left." Speed said.

"What a nice man." Trixie remarked.

"Yeah, that's the Painter himself."

"The Painter?" Trixie questioned.

"Yeah, during his endurance oval racing days, he was sponsored by a paint company and had a new paint job almost every week. His first paint job was a rainbow which made him, and his team known as 'The Rainbow Warriors'." Speed explained.

"I wonder how he felt about that name." Trixie chuckled.

"He embraced it, that's what makes him such a great racer. He embraces the identity fans and even those who aren't fans make for him. You don't get as many wins and championships as him without the demeanor he has towards everyone. He races others hard and will even shove you out of his way to win, but after the race, he's your friend; but no matter what he'll respect you. That's a real racer." Speed gushed.

"Alright, alright. I didn't expect you to be such a fan."

"Oh yeah, I idolized him when I was growing up. Besides Rex and Hank, he was my guy." Speed said as they got out of the car. But as they did, three silver, delta-shaped cars with roses printed on the hoods pulled up. Speed's gaze became intense, knowing exactly what the cars were.

"What is it, Speed?" Trixie asked until she looked where he was looking, "Oh!" she gasped.

"The Three Roses Club… I thought the drivers and bosses were all killed by Flash Marker Jr." Speed thought to himself. The new Three Roses comprised of two men and a woman who stayed in their cars and stared down Speed.

"Stop it, we don't want any trouble!" Trixie shouted, waving her fist at them.

"Trixie, calm down. We'll get to the bottom of their intentions during the race." Speed said as Sparky and Pops came up behind them.

"That can't be who I think it is." Pops said, already getting excited.

"Going after them wouldn't be wise, Pops." Another deep voice said.

"Inspector Detector!" Sparky greeted. Everyone shook Detector's hand.

"It's great to see you all again. I know it might be a little late now, but congratulations on the World Championship, Speed. Very well deserved indeed." Inspector Detector congratulated.

"Thank you, sir. If I may get right to the point, what's going on?"

Inspector Detector pointed at the GRX, "That car. It tried to run Racer X and I off of the road." He informed.

"Rex? He's here?" Speed jumped.

"Yes, Speed. He's been working closely with me on this case. But I regret to inform you that since he's on assignment, you can't go meet him." Speed looked at his feet in disappointment, "But I assure you, he still wants to help, he's just going to try to not get involved." Inspector Detector reassured.

"Sorry, Inspector but Rex is still a hard topic for our family." Pops said.

"I understand completely."

"Sorry for bringing it up." Speed apologized.

"No need for that, Speed. You've been searching for Rex since he ran away, now you find him and it ends up like this, it's hard." Inspector Detector comforted, putting his hand on Speed's shoulder. "But this comes to my original point, Racer X and I are going to be watching the Three Roses very closely, as well as the GRX because we're sure that they're going to cause trouble."

"Who are in the Three Roses? We thought that Flash Marker Jr. did them all in." Speed asked.

"We thought so, too but it seems like someone got them together again. The new members are Tommy Zoomishi, Kakkoi Teppodama and they're led by Rosie Blaze."

"Didn't Kakkoi race for Musha Motors?"

"Yes, but he was fired for not being able to knock you out of the World GP, he crashed in the first leg before the speedboats."

"Well great, one of these guys has a grudge against me. I hope it doesn't come to anything serious."

"Be careful either way, Speed. But for now, you should go eat and rest as people come to watch the start of the second round." Inspector Detector suggested. The GO Team agreed and went to a nearby restaurant as Inspector Detector had extra security placed around the Mach 5.

Chapter 9: Begin Stage 2

"Dead?! You can't suspect that it was me!" Pops raised his voice over the news given to him by Inspector Detector.

"No, Pops. We know it wasn't you, you were in the air at the time it happened. We just wanted to know if you knew who could be behind the murder." Inspector Detector answered.

"Murder?" Speed stood there with Trixie next to him, trays full of lunch in hand as they took their seats next to the table.

"Yes, Speed. Your father's old boss, Mr. Van Ruffle was found dead in a hotel in Mexico City. Since you have a history with him, I was asking if he knew of anyone who hated Van Ruffle enough to kill him." The inspector explained.

"Could it have been Ace Deucey and his gang?" Speed asked.

"If only it was so easy, Mr. Deucey is still in prison for what he did a little over a year ago."

Trixie looked at her watch and notified, "We have to dig in, Speed. One hour until they call us back to our cars." The two started eating as Inspector Detector asked Pops one last time.

"Are you sure, Pops? No one you can think of?"

"No, Inspector. I'm sorry, but I have nothing." Pops repeated.

"Alright, thank you for your time. Good luck in the race, Go Team." Inspector Detector said as he left the diner. He walked around to the back of the building where Racer X was waiting for him.

"Did Pops have anything to say?" Racer X asked.

"He didn't, Racer X. I believe your family is completely innocent; now let's keep moving. We have to get to Anchorage and I have a hunch that whoever our murderer is, he'll be there." Racer X looked back into the diner before gunning it back on course to Alaska.

Thirty minutes later, Speed and Trixie came out to see that Sparky had parked the Mach 5 in a diagonal starting position next to the GRX, "Sparky, what's going on?" Speed asked.

"The WRL asked all mechanics to park the cars in a starting position like a normal endurance race and gave us all our own opponents for a one on one start. This is what stage 2's beginning looks like Speed."

"Do you know what order we're all starting in?" Trixie inquired.

"Here, look at this." Sparky handed Trixie a paper that had all of the information on it.

Trixie then read the rules and starting grid, "The second stage of the No Limit World Race will begin with two racers within 5-minute intervals between each group of two, the cars will go through the Colorado Rockies' treacherous mountain course that we have created. Be warned, the threat level is high, so be cautious through this dangerous mountain pass." Trixie looked up to Speed and Sparky and commented, "Who writes this stuff? It's like they want us to get killed." Speed and Sparky shrugged as Trixie continued, "The starting grid is as follows, the first going will be the #1 of Lovelace Goldminter, and the #33 of Rosie Blaze. Secondly, will be the #32 of Kakkoi Teppodama, and the late-comer #14 of Smoke Wheeler. After that is the #31 of Tommy Zoomishi, and the #24 of Left Roardon. Last but not least will be World Champion Speed Racer in the Mach 5 and the mysterious #00 car. Thrills and spills are bound to erupt as we make our way to stage 3 final in Canada!"

"Whoa, that means we start 20 minutes after first place." Speed noticed.

"True, but they're going to reset you again in Canada at some point. It's that part of the race that we need to worry about. Just be careful of the GRX." Sparky answered.

"You're right, Sparky. Thanks a ton for helping guard the Mach 5, especially with the Three Roses Club around."

"It's no problem, Speed. Just make sure you don't bang up the Mach 5 too much, these scratches from the first stage are driving me nuts and I don't think I could take much more of seeing the Mach 5 in this state!" Sparky exclaimed.

"Well, I'll see what I can do, Sparky. But it's up to whoever wants to try and smash into us at this point." Speed laughed but the announcer cut in with his booming voice.

"All drivers, please, get to your cars, the second stage is about to begin!"

"Alright, Speed. Everything has been triple checked and the Mach 5 is ready to go! Good luck!" Sparky said as he made his way to the helicopter where Pops was setting up.

"Thanks, Sparky! I'll be careful!" Speed called out as he and Trixie got set in the Mach 5.

"Up first is Lovelace Goldminter in the #1 and Rosie Blaze in the #33! Stand by!" The announcer boomed over the crowd as the two racers started their engines. They watched the flagman closely, as he held down the green flag and then a quick flick of the wrist, he waved the green flag and the two lady drivers drove off into the mountains. The others went in exact 5-minute succession until only the Mach 5 and GRX were left, waiting diligently for the second stage to begin for them, "Finally is the Mach 5 driven by Speed Racer and the #00 driven by Unknown. Stand by!"

"Unknown, huh?" Speed muttered as he twisted the keys and the GOV-12 roared to life, next to him, the GRX's familiar gravelly exhaust idled as well. It was as addictive sounding as it was before. But now Speed only felt anger towards the car, it almost ended his career early and he wasn't going to let that grudge slide without giving his opponent the race of his or her life. Just then, the flagman waved the green flag for the two cars and they blasted off through the entrance to the mountain pass.

Further up front, Left Roardon and Tommy Zoomishi caught up to Kakkoi and Smoke as they entered the narrow mountain road. "This is making me nervous." Left thought aloud.

"Left, you on this frequency?" Smoke's voice crackled through Left's radio.

"Hey, Smoke. What's up?" he answered.

"Look, I don't wanna sound like a jerk, but I really don't want to put up with these guys, they're obviously here for Speed Racer."

"Be careful around these guys, Smoke. I have no idea how far they'll go. It's only been five minutes and this one is racing me hard like it's the end of the race or something."

"Exactly my point, buddy." Smoke commented as the four cars moved through a tunnel in the mountain; the tunnel then opened up and they started to go up a steep hill, in which the right side was wide open, and the left was all mountainside. This man-made obstacle tested the torque of their vehicles to the limit, but that's when Kakkoi swerved hard to the left, colliding with Smoke! The sharp, triangular edge of the specially made car sliced into Smoke's front right tire, causing it to go out.

"SMOKE!" Left shouted as Smoked Wheeler's car bounced off the mountainside from the initial impact, then swerving to the right, and flying off of the cliff, exploding on the ground below! Left was stricken speechless as his old friend was murdered right before his eyes. He made the decision to stay slightly behind the two cars that now have proven that they'll stop at nothing to win…or get Speed Racer.

Only a few minutes back and closing on Left, the Mach 5 and GRX were side-by-side, "Speed, this tunnel comes out at a large incline to test torque, I think we can gain ground on the GRX there since we have our special tires." Trixie notified.

"Got it." Speed confirmed as they entered the tunnel which became pitch black, Speed pressed the E Button and activated the special illumination which instantly lit up the tunnel in an eerie bright red glow.

"We might not use it often, but I'm sure glad that we have the 'Evening Eye', aren't you?" Trixie asked.

"Uh-huh." Speed answered before they were blinded with a green light that emanated from the interior of the GRX! "Oh!" Speed exclaimed, not ready for the sudden light that shone in his eyes.

"Speed! The tunnel ends up ahead, use the tires quickly! Speed!" Trixie shouted.

"I can't see!" Speed yelled back when the GRX slammed into the Mach 5, causing it to hit a slippery patch, sending it on an uncontrolled slide as they approached the end of the tunnel! The GRX sped ahead of them as Speed, Trixie and the Mach 5 were sent careening to their imminent doom! Can Speed gain control the Mach 5 in time? Find out in the next episode of Speed Racer! [Outro Music]


	2. The Invincible Car (Part 2)

Speed Racer: The Invincible Car (Part 2)

Chapter 10: The Invincible Car (Part 2)

[Intro Music]

"Ahhhhh!" Trixie screamed as the Mach 5 slid towards the edge of the mountain cliff! No matter how hard Speed pressed the brakes, the car wouldn't stop, even the emergency brake didn't do anything to help, but he couldn't see his button cluster and didn't want to press another button that wasn't the B Button. There was nothing that the two could do until a bright yellow car came up to their right side and sandwiched the Mach 5 between it and the mountain! As the cars ground to a halt, Trixie looked up to see the familiar Shooting Star, the car driven by Racer X. Now known to Speed, Racer X is his older brother, Rex, who ran away from home years ago.

Racer X jumped from his car and made his way to the Mach 5, "Are you two alright?" he asked.

"Rex? Is that you?" Speed asked, his eyes still closed.

"That's right, Speed. But don't open your eyes to see me, we've been through this before but it doesn't seem as bad as it was last year. You'll be fine."

"You came in the nick-of-time as always, Racer X. Thank you." Trixie said as Racer X made his way back to the Shooting Star.

"Rex wait! I thought you said you were going to stay away from racing."

Racer X stopped as he opened his door, "I am, Speed. I'm not participating in the No Limit World Race because if I was, I'd be winning." Racer X chuckled.

"Inspector Detector said you were working with him, is he here, too?" Trixie asked.

"I dropped him off at the Denver Airport because I knew as soon as the Three Roses showed up, it was going to be trouble. Listen, Speed you better not mess up like this again, because I might not be around to save you. Same goes to you, Trixie." Racer X scolded.

"I understand, Rex. Thanks." Speed said as Racer X got back into the Shooting Star, performing a very careful three-point-turn back to Denver.

"Don't thank me, Speed; win." Racer X ordered before speeding back off into the distance.

"We're lucky that we have Rex around." Trixie commented.

Speed the opened his eyes slowly, wincing at the pain from the sun, but he smiled and answered, "We are." Before looking back to the road, activating the belt tires and launching the Mach 5 up the hill, seamlessly conquering the incline and getting back on track. Morning turned to afternoon as Speed and Trixie went along the mountains.

"Look!" Trixie notified, pointing towards Left Roardon being harassed by two members of the Three Roses.

"I see, they must've gotten Smoke Wheeler so now they're focusing on Left! We've gotta help him!" Speed said as they gained ground on the two cars.

"Hey, it's him! It's Speed Racer!" Zoomishi said over his radio.

"Get him, then you stone heads, don't you want that money from Ms. Flux?" Rosey Blaze commanded.

"Let's box him in, I'll be in front, you go to the left side and we'll shuffle him off of the cliff!" Kaikko said, the two cars slowed down, letting Left go, to get to the Mach 5.

"They're gonna try to knock us off! Someone is definitely after us!" Trixie said.

"I've got a surprise for them if they try anything." Speed chimed, looking ahead as the cliff portion of the track started to snake around.

"Speed…" Trixie said nervously as the three cars sped towards a sharp bend. Speed's eyes sharpened and became focused on that bend as the two cars surrounded him, Kaikko pulled in front and Speed let Zoomishi pull along the left side. Kaikko then slammed on his brakes, and Zoomishi pulled a hard right which was Speed's cue as he slammed the A Button, sending the Mach 5 soaring into the air! "Speed, it's too far!" Trixie shouted.

" _I haven't used this since... I hope it'll work._ " Speed thought as he pressed an unmarked white button next to the steering wheel which deployed the mini-wings under the Mach 5 which helped it glide, this was first installed when he raced the Car Acrobatic Team in the Alpine Race almost a year ago. The Mach 5 landed with a *thunk* and Speed continued as Sparky chimed over the radio.

"Hey, Speed. I'm reading a malfunction with the auto jacks." He notified.

"I felt it, I think one of them is stuck." Speed replied.

"Next checkpoint is coming up at Yellowstone, so I'll meet you there so I can fix it."

"Thanks, Sparky. It got very exciting down here." Speed said.

"I can tell. Well, I'm signing off for now, keep going!" Sparky said as he and Pops went straight to Yellowstone.

Meanwhile, in Anchorage, Oriana Flux gets off of her flight and heads to a hotel looking over the finish line, "Perfect view of my victory." She chuckles to herself as there is a knock on her door, "Who could it be? I just got here a minute ago, can't a girl get some rest?" she said while grabbing her gun and going to the door. Looking through the peep-hole she saw the new boss of the Three Roses Club, Mr. Trick Idler, Oriana put the gun behind her and greeted, "Mr. Idler, I'm glad to see you could make it." She stepped aside, letting him in.

"How do you get so much money? You must be a slippery one, too." Trick idolized, looking around the expensive hotel room.

"Is there any news from the Three Roses?" she asked.

"Kaikko took out Smoke Wheeler, but when he and Zoomishi tried to take out the Mach 5, Speed Racer pulled one of his tricks and Zoomishi fell off of the cliff."

"Idiots!" Oriana shouted, "Your job was to take out the Mach 5, not someone insignificant to the mission like Smoke Wheeler!"

"Hey! Your driver couldn't take out Speed Racer, either!" Trick yelled back.

"That was only because Speed got help from an outside source that we did not consider!" Oriana argued.

"You can never be wrong, huh? Typical…"

"Typical what? It doesn't matter what I am, what matters is that the job gets done, Mr. Idler!" Oriana interrupted. "Now, leave me, make sure your remaining two roses get the job done." She commanded, waving off Trick.

"Yes, Oriana." He grumbled, slamming the door to her room and storming off. Oriana lit up a cigarette and put it in her black cigarette holder and took a puff before turning the TV on and watching the race which focused in on Lovelace and Rosey.

"I'm glad we're finally faster than someone." Lovelace jeered over the radio to her assistant, Halfdollar.

"Very good, Ms. Goldminter. But I warn you, the Three Roses Club have ways of getting their jobs done. Smoke Wheeler has been taken out by one of them, but not so long after, the Mach 5 returned the favor. Best be quick, Left, Speed and that GRX are gaining on you two."

"Thanks for the update, Halfdollar. I see the clearing, we're about to leave the mountains and go on to a smooth and winding road. This oughtta be fun." Lovelace grinned as she and Rosey Blaze left the mountains and entered something more familiar and less life-threatening.

"What do we know about this Lovelace chick?" Rosey asked as Trick Idler came onto the radio.

"She's rich and her car is fast." He huffed.

"What's with the attitude? I'm asking for intel." Rosey questioned.

"Our client is very unhappy with our performance. The other two took out Smoke Wheeler just because they could and then Zoomishi was taken out because of Speed Racer. But oh no, you're' not focusing on him, you're focusing on Lovelace Goldminter!" Trick yelled over the radio.

"Dude, come on!" Rosey shouted back.

"You're supposed to be going after Speed Racer, pull over and help Kaikko!" Trick demanded.

"Fine!" Rosey conceded as she pulled over, letting go of her possible lead. Not long after, Left Roardon and the GRX passed by and there in the distance was the Mach 5 and Kaikko, "Let's see how you like this." Rosey grabbed a gun that was tucked in the door of her car and shot three shots at the Mach 5!

"Oh!" Speed yelled as he brought the Mach 5 to a screeching halt and pressed the D Button, deploying the deflector shield. Rosey continued shooting at the Mach 5 until she ran out of bullets in which Trixie left the Mach 5 and leaped towards Rosey, grabbing her arm, and stopping her from loading another full clip! This allowed Speed to open the glove box of the Mach 5 where a .45 caliber was kept, after all of the times they've been shot at, he made sure to prepare himself for anything on these kinds of races from now on. Rosey, being a little stronger than Trixie got a hand free and punched her away but still, before she could reload, Speed pointed the gun at her and shouted, "Drop it!"

"Alright, dude. No need to cause such a fuss." Rosey said, dropping the gun. Just then, Kaikko showed up with his gun drawn.

"Stop right there!" He yelled but without hesitation, Speed shot in his direction, causing Kaikko to be thrown off-guard; this also relayed to him that Speed meant business. He threw his gun to the side and raised his hands as well, Trixie picked up the gun and covered Kaikko, making sure he didn't make any sudden moves.

"Who do you work for, what's all this about?" Speed interrogated.

"This is about a few very powerful people wanting revenge on you and your family. We're just hired muscle, doing what we get paid to do."

"Why would you agree to do such a thing?" Trixie added.

"As I said already, we're getting paid handsomely to do this. Enough to get an upgrade for these old cars so maybe we can finally keep up with the front runners like you. It'd make this job so much easier." Rosey explained.

"Well, we won't let you." Speed said, shooting out Rosey and Kaikko's tires. "Let's go, Trixie." He said, Trixie still pointing the gun at Kaikko, cautiously made her way to the navigator seat of the Mach 5. "You two need to find a new racing team. One that'll pay you for racing, instead of hurting others and losing because of it." Speed lectured.

"Yeah, whatever." Rosey huffed as Speed got back into the Mach 5 and drove away.

Rosey and Kaikko lowered their hands as Rosey looked towards Kaikko and said, "I'm gonna need your healthy tires, bud."

"That was close." Trixie sighed, slumping in her seat.

"That girl will be back, but I think we ended Kaikko's race for sure." Speed replied.

"How do you figure Rosey will return?"

"I bet she'll ask Kaikko to give up his remaining tires to her. I shot three of Kaikko's tires out, but only one of hers."

"Why'd you do that? Didn't you hear her? She's been hired to stop us!"

"True, but instead of waiting with her team, she went ahead and raced Lovelace for the lead, I think she's more invested in the race than she is in trying to stop us. I think we can convince her to be on our side, if not, then its cutter blades for her new tire." Speed explained.

"Oh, that's a good idea. Hey, we need to report this to the Inspector, we should use the Homing Robot!"

"Good idea, you record the message, this road is winding so I need to focus."

Trixie opened a compartment in the middle section where there was a recorder and the robot controls, "This is Trixie in the Mach 5 calling Inspector Detector, the Three Roses Club and the GRX appear to be working together, when we entered the mountain pass, the GRX sped through and almost knocked us off of the cliff, if it wasn't for Racer X, we would've been history. Soon after, the Three Roses Club tried to stop us twice, once trying to knock us off the cliff and another trying to shoot us; there's definitely something going on here."

"Inspector Detector, we need you to stop the GRX if you can, there's something definitely going on with it and its driver. We'll try to find out what it is when we catch up to it!" Speed added.

"Alright, the recording is full, time to bring the robot out." Trixie chimed as Speed pressed the G Button and the Homing Robot flew out of the car's hood, Trixie took its delicate control stick and landed the bird on her lap as she attached the recording. She then pressed a new button marked "I" which sent the homing robot directly to Inspector Detector.

"Alright, we're almost at Yellowstone, we can't be far behind." Speed announced as they drove into the night and arrived in Yellowstone when it got dark.

"What did you do to her?" Sparky cried, putting his hands on his head as he saw the scratched and dented Mach 5.

Speed rubbed the back of his head, embarrassed that he damaged the Mach 5 so badly, "We got into a tangle with the GRX and the Three Roses one after another. We were lucky Racer X was there or Trixie and I would be at the bottom of a cliff. Sorry about the damage."

"Well, I can get the auto jacks back up to working order, but I can't buff out all the rest of the damage." Sparky sighed.

"I know it's hard to see the Mach 5 like this, Sparky. But I've been working on a list of things I want to do for it when the race is over, we'll read them over when we win, okay?" Speed promised, placing his hand on his friend's shoulder.

"Alright, Speed. You and Trixie go get some rest, I'm gonna be up late tonight." Sparky said.

"Where's Pops and Spritle?" Speed asked.

"They went into town to get supplies, they'll be back any minute now; I wouldn't be worried."

"Alright, we'll be in the helicopter if you need us." Speed said as he and Trixie made their way to the helicopter and got in. Speed closed the door and the two sighed and Trixie leaned over, resting her head on Speed's chest.

"After all of that, I could use some rest." She sighed.

"Yeah. This is the most tiring race I've ever been in. Perhaps one of the most dangerous, too." Speed said, shutting his eyes to rest them.

"Well, don't worry about being tired because the next stint is mine, so you can sleep."

"Mmm-hmm." Speed replied, but he began to doze off, remembering his nightmare from when they were in San Angelo. Remembering how he felt when the Mach 5's gadgets failed him.

"Speed?" Trixie asked, looking up at him.

"Huh?" Speed answered.

"Is something wrong? Your heartbeat got very fast. Is there something I don't know about?"

"Never mind that. We should have something to eat." Speed deflected as he left the helicopter to go to the Mach 5 and grab their lunch basket.

"Speed, I wish you'd tell me what's wrong." Trixie sighed to herself as she looked on.

An hour later, Sparky was pressing the A Button over and over, testing the Mach 5's auto jack repair, "The malfunction is fixed, Speed. Just be careful because I don't know how long it'll hold out. The damage was very extreme, but I did my best."

"Alright, Sparky. We won't let the GRX get the drop on us again." Speed said, climbing into the passenger's seat, handing the keys over to Trixie.

"Good luck, you two, I'll see you in Canada for Stage 3!" Sparky said as Trixie turned the keys and gunned it.

As they drove, Speed gave Trixie the update, "Alright, Trixie. Up ahead, we're going to be entering a heavily wooded area with branching paths along the way. But in order for our stop at Stage 3 to be valid, we need to make it to Calgary, which is where the final stage begins. The average drive from here to there would be nine hours, but if you keep pace, we can shave that down to seven."

"That's a long drive." Trixie commented.

"We'll switch out eventually." Speed said.

"Sounds good to me." Trixie agreed as she drove the Mach 5 through heavy woods and around mountains.

"Sparky calling the Mach 5! Looking good, Trixie; you're going faster than the set pace!" Sparky rang out through the radio.

"Thanks, Sparky, what's up?" Trixie asked.

"Lovelace, the GRX, and Left Roardon have stopped in Montana, but they're almost at the border. Rosey Blaze is still behind you guys by thirty-minutes, so you shouldn't be seeing much of her." He updated.

"Thanks for the update, Sparky." Trixie thanked as Sparky turned off the radio.

"You're getting much better, Trixie, before long we're gonna have to build a Mach 6." Speed said.

"Well, I do have one of the best coaches in the world. But, I'm more of a 'Lucky 7's' girl, I don't think Mach 6 would suit me very well." Trixie smiled.

Speed laughed, "Sounds about right. Well, I'm going to get some sleep, keep it up and wake me in a couple of hours so I can take over."

"Alright, Speed. I'll do my best!" Trixie guaranteed as she gave the Mach 5 a little more gas as they crossed the Wyoming/Montana border, eventually switching out two hours later.

Meanwhile, in Great Falls, "Ms. Lovelace, the GRX has taken the lead and the Mach 5 is on its way!" Halfdollar rang through a radio as Lovelace slept in her car in Great Falls. Lovelace shot up in her car and turned it on.

"Oh jeez, I think I should've brought you along, Halfdollar." Lovelace said, rubbing her eyes. She heard the Mach 5's distinct exhaust note and then saw it hauling down the road.

"There are the others!" Trixie called out.

"Yeah, all of them except for the GRX. Whoever drives that car doesn't seem to sleep at all!" Speed replied as the Mach 5 passed Lovelace and Left, entering second place, but a battle was brewing between the drivers as Lovelace was right on them not long after they passed by. Speed looked in his rear-view mirror and grinned.

"Not this time, Speed Racer." Lovelace thought aloud as she applied a draft on the Mach 5, a move that she learned from Left earlier in the race. She stayed there for a moment before pulling out and alongside, but Speed knew her trick, he wasn't using the Mach 5's full potential, so as she attempted a slingshot, he compensated for her gained speed and was able to match it until he pulled ahead bit by bit, little by little.

"Lovelace's car is still very fast." Speed commented.

"Well, her father is rich, I'm sure he spent a lot on her car and career." Trixie added, as she looked over and realized something, "Hey Speed, how come no one else brought an assistant?"

"To save on weight, having an extra person with extra supplies can weigh you down, but I chose you because it's better for the long run, so I'm not driving by myself and making more frequent stops; we can cover more ground by switching out."

"Don't you just like having me around?"

"I thought that was a given." Speed chuckled as he pulled in front of Lovelace again.

"Look, Speed! It's the GRX!" Trixie pointed out.

"You're right, Trixie, we'd better keep our distance at this point." Speed responded as the two came upon the GRX. "I wonder why it's going so slowly, I remember the GRX being able to pull on the Mach 5 easily." Speed commented.

The three cars passed through from Montana to Canada and continued to Calgary, but the Mach 5 had to let Lovelace pass because Speed stopped to switch with Trixie again. "Alright, Speed. I'm ready to really race now." Trixie said as she gunned it and in no time was back on the tail of Lovelace and the GRX.

"Be careful, Trixie. Lovelace is very skilled at applying blocks, so patience is key against her."

"Ms. Lovelace, the Mach 5 is looking to challenge. I do believe that they wish to win Stage 2." Halfdollar radioed.

"Well, they're not gonna get it without a fight!" Lovelace said as she blocked the Mach 5.

"Sheesh!" Trixie exclaimed, moving left and right, swerving around to find an opening.

"Patience, Trix. You have to handle the Mach 5 like… like it's a person. It has wants and needs like a person. It thinks and feels like a person."

"What're you talking about, Speed?" she asked distressed, not really having had raced anyone this hard before.

"Listen to her, Trixie. Just listen." Speed instructed, placing his hand on hers, stopping her from swerving all around the road. "You know the Mach 5's capabilities for the most part, but there is a power that the Mach 5 has that you have to learn from driving it, something that isn't on the blueprints." Speed looked ahead where there was a series of snaking turns, sharp curves one after the other.

"What do I do, Speed?"

"Don't panic, just think. The Mach 5 can do anything."

Trixie became focused, realizing what Speed meant and what she had to do. Her grip on the wheel tightened as she followed Lovelace into the snake turns, but when Lovelace stepped on her brakes to take the turns, Trixie pressed the B Button, deploying the belt tires for grip and she swung the car hard enough that it swung onto two wheels! The Mach 5 went around the sharp corner passed the side of Lovelace's #1 and passed in front of her! "Excuse me?" Lovelace shouted, not believing her eyes.

The Mach 5 landed back on four wheels with a *THUD* and Trixie quickly disengaged the belt tires and swung the car into the next turn, giving it more throttle, causing it to drift around the turns! Sharp curve after sharp curve she drifted the Mach 5, finally understanding what Speed meant; the Mach 5 wasn't just the fastest racecar on Earth, or the most advanced; but when treated with respect, it's versatile. The curves led out to a long straightaway that led to Calgary. But if they wanted to win the stage, Trixie would have to get passed the GRX! She quickly gained ground on it but then, a sinking feeling, the GRX gassed it as hard as it could and it gained a lot of ground on the Mach 5, that's when Speed put his hand on her shoulder, "Trix, it's alright. Just go for second, don't try to defeat that car. Leave that part to me."

Crowds cheered as the GRX, Mach 5 and Goldminter #1 crossed into Calgary one after another. Only a few minutes behind followed Left Roardon and Rosey Blaze, who missed the whole race upfront.

Trixie let out a deep breath, "How'd I do?" she asked Speed as she turned off the Mach 5 and got out of the car. Speed said nothing but instead hugged her, a rare gesture from her normally stoic boyfriend.

"That was amazing, Trixie! Exactly the right moves all the way!" Speed congratulated.

"Hey, Trixie!" Lovelace called out, walking over to the Mach 5, "That was impressive coming from a rookie."

"I'm lucky that I have one of the best instructors in the world." Trixie smiled.

"Yeah, don't get all mushy on me. You wanna come with Left and me for dinner later? Stage 3 doesn't start until tomorrow so, we have time to celebrate."

Trixie and Speed looked at each other and both answered, "Sure thing!" as they secured the Mach 5 and walked over to meet the rest of the team.

Chapter 11: The Final Stage

After a night of partying, Speed and Trixie awoke at the Calgary Checkpoint to begin the final stage of the No Limit World Race. They silently got washed up and gathered their gear, both strategizing how they were going to beat the GRX. They left the hotel, seeing the rest of the group as Speed put his lucky red ascot on, "I still don't know, Pops." Speed commented, looking over at the GRX.

"Don't worry about it, Speed. I know you'll find a way to win." Pops replied.

"Thanks, Pops. Thanks to all of you, I'll do my best to win." Speed said as he picked up his helmet from his seat in the Mach 5.

"Since I had the extra time, Pops and I were able to get everything in working order overnight, Speed." Sparky added.

"Oh, and I added a little something…extra." Pops said, winking at Speed.

"What does that mean, Pops?" Speed asked.

"Son, the Mach 5 needed a boost to be able to even stay on par with the GRX. Since I memorized the engine build on the car, I had to push the GOV-12 to its limits. I tuned the engine all night after I installed the twin-turbocharger." Pops explained.

"Turbo? I thought you only liked to go with naturally aspirated." Speed was surprised at Pops' seemingly sudden change of view.

"I do, Speed. But in this case, I don't have the means to do that for the Mach 5 right now. So, I had to go the other route, and now you should be able to keep up at least."

Speed put his hand on Pops' shoulder, "I won't disappoint you, Pops."

"All drivers, stage 3 is going to begin soon! Please get to your cars!" the announcer called out.

All who remained on the grid were Speed Racer & Trixie, Left Roardon, Lovelace Goldminter, Rosey Blaze, and the GRX. "This is it, my plan will finally come to fruition." Oriana Flux chuckled in her hotel room overlooking the finish line. She sipped her glass of scotch and looked over to her guest, Trick Idler, owner of the Three Roses Club, "So, Mr. Idler. Would you like to finally hear my plans?" Oriana asked.

"I thought your plan was to destroy Speed Racer and the Mach 5?" Trick asked.

"That is the short-term plan, Mr. Idler. That's why I hired you. No, I have a plan that goes on the long-term." Oriana said.

"Okay, I'll bite. What is your long-term plan?"

Oriana walked over to her bag and grabbed a disk, she then opened her other briefcase that was used to control the GRX and was also a computer, she slid the disk into the computer and it loaded up presentation slides, "Let me introduce you to my long-term plan…autonomy."

"Autonomy? I don't follow."

"Cars that drive themselves, cars that are run by computers. Cars provided by me when I use the winnings to create 'Flux Autonomy'."

"Your great plan is…cars that drive themselves?" Trick said, confused and slightly disappointed.

"You aren't seeing the big picture, Mr. Idler. I could control the world with these cars! Why buy a car that you must learn how to drive, when you could buy one, and you could just tell it where to go and it would do exactly what you want. Why do you think the GRX-2 is so perfect? Why it only follows a specific line and doesn't care for the imperfect human drivers?"

"Again…it's just a self-driving car."

"It won't be when we take control of whatever car we want. Think of it, Idler, the political implications of this new technology. If I don't like the way the world is going…" Oriana snapped her fingers, "Off a bridge goes the president or whoever I want, and I'll be able to cover it up, claiming that the technology 'isn't finished yet because it's so advanced' and that 'this was an unfortunate glitch and we'll do better'. Sure, my sales will plummet, but even so, I can still begin to place people I want into positions of power. I **can** control the fate of the world by taking advantage of people's laziness and with this technology, and I **will**."

Trick Idler sat stunned at this revelation, "Now that's quite the trick, Ms. Flux. But what about my Three Roses Club? I spent a lot of money to buy this team and their technology."

"Racing will still be around, I assure you; but your drivers won't, unfortunately. Face it, Mr. Idler, you only have one rose left anyway. The Three Roses Club can become a part of what will become the premier racing league of autonomous cars, I will be able to manipulate certain ones the way I want so I can win money with that as well. It's basically a massive slot machine to all but me." She plotted.

"I don't think I've met anyone as backward as you, Oriana." Trick complimented.

"You haven't, I assure you of that. Now run along to your Rosey Blaze and make sure she gets the job done." Oriana commanded.

"Yes, Ms. Flux." Trick Idler said as he left. But as soon as he was out of earshot, he muttered to himself, "Her plan would lose me all my money. I have to warn Rosey to back off the Mach 5 and focus on smashing the GRX!"

Back at the starting line, the Go Team were putting their finishing touches on the Mach 5… until the Homing Robot flew in and gently landed on Trixie's lap in the passenger's seat. "Oh! Speed, look!" she held up the Homing Robot that had a new tape on it.

"Play the recording, quickly." Speed said as Trixie pressed the button on the recorder and on the playback, was Inspector Detector's voice.

"Speed, Trixie, thank you for your message; Racer X and I will look into the matter secretly. But, if you can avoid it, I implore you to please not engage the GRX. Not until we have an idea of what we're up against and figure out what the driver's end game is. Godspeed Mach 5 Team." But then Racer X's voice overtook the recording, "Speed, if it comes down to winning the race, don't engage that driver, he'll smash you off the road like it did in the mountains. If you can pass, go for it, if it requires you putting yourself and Trixie in more danger, just let him win. Good luck, Speed." Racer X said until the tape ran out.

"Did Rex just ask us to throw the race?" Sparky asked.

"Yes, but he knows I can't do that, Sparky. It's against my nature to throw a race or any competition really." Speed said.

"Just be careful, you two. I don't know what I'd do if one of you got hurt." Pops interjected.

"Don't worry, Pops. We'll be careful." Speed reassured, looking back over to the GRX as the announcer's voice rang through Calgary.

"All drivers, the beginning of stage 3 will see you passing through the harshest of Canadian winters, through the Yukon and finally into Alaska. When the command to start your engines is given, this year's Ms. Racing Car will wave the green flag to begin the final leg of the race! The command will begin in a few minutes! Teams, make your final adjustments now!"

"Good luck, Speedy! I know you'll beat the GRX without a problem now that Pops fixed the car up!" Spritle said, standing at the side of the car.

"Thanks, Spritle and that's right, I'll be sure to win. I'll win for you too, Chim Chim." Speed promised. Chim Chim cheered and clapped his hands above his head.

"Alright, Speed, this is it. I gave you all of the supplies you might need and packed them in the trunk. Just in case you get in a real fight with the GRX." Sparky notified.

"I feel like I've said, 'thanks' to you a lot on this trip." Speed chuckled.

"Keep em' comin', pal. It never gets old." Sparky returned.

"Alright, son. With the twin turbos in the Mach 5, you'll be almost as fast as the GRX which means the G's will be close to the same. If you get light-headed like you did in the GRX, just back it down a little bit and make sure you compensate for the amount of power you have now. Be responsible."

"Don't worry Pops, I will. I remember driving the GRX, that feeling… that power." Speed starts to remember the night he stole the GRX, the moonlight glistening off of its golden paint, the G's so strong that it caused him to hallucinate that he was traveling into a dimension made of speed itself before causing him to black out and almost crash; if it wasn't for Pops, Spritle and Chim Chim coming to his rescue. Even then he couldn't bear to stay away, the speed and handling were addicting. Speed looked on at the GRX and thought to himself, " _Whoever is in that car has probably been exposed to the V-Gas…maybe even more than once. I hope we can win and maybe even help the driver._ "

"Speed! Snap out of it, they're about to make the announcement!" Trixie shook Speed until he was done zoning out.

"Drivers! Start your engines!" the official announced, as all of the drivers turned the keys to their cars, engines of all kinds roared through the Canadian air. "Now, the gorgeous Ms. Racing Car will wave the green flag and begin the final stage of the No Limit World Race!" Each driver stared at the flag-woman eagerly awaiting to get going, engines revved and revved until she waved the green flag! Left Roardon was on the gas a fraction of a second faster than the GRX to everyone's surprise, but it was still only a fraction of a second. In no-time, the GRX sped past Left and into the lead, but it was followed closely by the Mach 5, its power now boosted via twin turbochargers.

"This feels familiar." Left said to himself as he looked in the rear-view mirror to see Lovelace and Rosey coming up behind him!

"Ms. Lovelace, Ms. Rosey Blaze is requesting to be patched into your radio feed." Halfdollar notified. Halfdollar is the Goldminter's newest butler and Lovelace's 'eye in the sky'.

"Patch her through." Lovelace said.

"Goldminter, I need you to let me through to get to the Mach 5!" Rosey said.

"Why would you think I'd do that? I know you're here to take Speed out of the race and I wanna beat him fair and square!" Lovelace answered.

"No, I'm not going to take out Speed anymore! I have to warn him about the GRX!"

"If Speed didn't tell Left and I about you and your friends shooting at him, I'd believe you. But I can't let you get to him, Rosey. If you and whoever you're working for are going to turn this from a race to a battle to save Speed, I'll do whatever I can to stop you!" Lovelace warned.

"Fine, then I'll try other things to get past you!" Rosey answered. Rosey drove the delta-shaped car up to Lovelace's #1 and used a sharp corner of her car to try and get close to Lovelace's tires.

"Oh!" Lovelace shouted before backing down, causing Rosey to overshoot the tire and side-swipe the blue and white car.

The battle between the two allowed for Left to get ahead, but he still wondered what was going on, "What's going on back there?" Left asked his crew chief.

"No idea, Left. Looks like some kind of disagreement."

"Should I help?"

"Nah, keep goin' and don't back down. The Mach 5 and GRX aren't far ahead."

"Alright." Left acknowledged as he continued forward at full speed, pulling away from the two battling ladies behind him.

Meanwhile, at the front of the pack, "How does the Mach 5 feel, Speed?" Trixie asked.

"It's fast, that's for sure. But something just doesn't feel right about it." Speed answered as the Mach 5's turbos whined.

"It doesn't sound so great, either." Trixie added, commenting on the slight whining sound coming from the chargers.

"As long as it lets us keep up with them." Speed said as the GRX was in eyeshot of the two, obviously not going full speed as to conserve gas.

"I'm going to turn on the radio to see any reports about the weather." Trixie said, turning the Mach 5's radio on.

"…and that is all you need to know about the race tonight. Tune in here for live updates as the drivers take on the treacherous Canadian Yukon. Blizzards are reported to strike tonight, so be sure to watch, it's bound to get exciting! In other news…" Trixie turned off the radio.

"A blizzard is up ahead tonight? Speed, can we pull over? I'd like to drive before we hit the storm. You know more about driving in those conditions than me." Trixie pled.

"Sure, Trixie. Hold on." Speed pulled over and the two swapped seats, but as they were buckling up, Left Roardon passed them.

"Alright, punch it, Lovelace and Rosey aren't far behind!" Speed said as Trixie gunned it back onto the main road. It didn't take long for the recently modified Mach 5 to catch up to Left and pull alongside. Before long, the other two cars joined the mix as the four grouped up. "I don't like this, they're letting the GRX getaway! We can't let it win!" Speed said. It was hours as the four cars duked it out until night fell.

"Alright, I'm pulling over." Trixie said as snow began to fall.

Speed hopped back into the driver's seat and as soon as Trixie buckled in, he pressed the D Button to stop the snow and the B Button to avoid loss of grip. "The others will be stopping soon, I'm sure of it." Speed said as he continued to the GRX. Because of their stop during a big position battle, the others passed them up, meaning Speed had to get his position back, as well as having to catch back up to the GRX.

He masterfully was able to dodge the battle between Rosey and Lovelace and caught back up to Left who blocked him, in which Speed grinned and opened the new power of his twin-turbo upgrade. He then pressed the A Button, vaulting over Left's car and back onto the road. Speed was a man on a mission as he was able to catch the GRX, which was when the snow began to fall harder than ever before! The GRX had a lot of torque and wasn't equipped with belt tires, so it struggled to keep its traction, even with a smart-traction control system that regulated power and grip to maximize the GRX's chances to stay ahead of the rest. But it wasn't a match for the purpose-built Mach 5 that ended up passing the GRX without much of a problem because Speed knew that on this slippery terrain, the GRX's driver wouldn't be dull enough to try and swerve into them; because that meant that he had a higher chance of taking himself out. So, to the GRX's chagrin, he had to give the lead to the Mach 5.

"There's new leader, folks! The Mach 5, driven by Speed Racer!" the radio host shouted in excitement.

"Yay Speed!" Spritle shouted.

"Get em', Speed!" Sparky cheered.

"That's our boy!" Mom and Pops both said simultaneously as Chim Chim clapped his hands and did standing flips.

"I'm glad we could fly you out for the final leg of the race, dear." Pops said.

"So am I, it was getting boring at home and I like to be around whenever possible." Mom Racer said. The Go Team were all standing inside of the hotel overlooking the finish line. The very same one that Oriana Flux was staying at. She looked down upon the Racer family from the railing on the next floor up. She made a sinister smile before retreating to her room, Oriana opened her GRX-2 briefcase again and pulled out a hidden compartment, revealing her silenced pistol, the same one that killed Mr. Van Ruffle in Mexico and the same gun she plans the devastate the Racer Family with!

 _Speed continues to stay ahead of the GRX-2 in a great blizzard in the Canadian Yukon, and it won't be long until the two reach the finish! What else does the GRX-2 have in store for our heroes? Is it already all out of tricks? Stay Tuned for the thrilling conclusion of Speed Racer: The Invincible Car!_

Chapter 12: Thrills and Excitement

Lovelace, Left, and Rosey were in the back of the pack, struggling through the blizzard, trying to follow the tire tracks of the Mach 5 and GRX so they wouldn't have to stop. Lovelace and Rosey, who were both locked in an intense battle, they went to each side of Left Roardon and passed him, Left backed down so he wouldn't become a part of a possible accident. "These girls have gotta be more careful." Left commented.

"Ms. Lovelace, please back down before it get's too dangerous." Halfdollar suggested.

"I can't, Halfdollar. I…" Lovelace stopped as she saw a huge orange glow and got distracted. The GRX had come equipped, after all, blowing fire from the front of the car with dual flamethrowers. As her focus faltered, becoming fixated on the fire, her car drifted right into Rosey's, catching her left-front tire on the sharp corner of Rosey's car, tearing it to pieces! "Ahhhh!" Lovelace yelled as her car swerved to the left, she over-corrected the swerve and ended up spinning out of control! Lovelace's blue, white, and orange #1 slammed into a huge snow bank on the side of the road, causing the car to flip end over end in the snow, Lovelace's bright orange headlights shining beams of light in the air as the car flipped and spun.

"Lovelace!" Left shouted as he stomped the brakes to avoid the debris left on the road, sending his car into a slide as well. Left was a veteran, though and he grabbed his handbrake and was able to control the car without hitting anything and bringing it to a complete stop. "Lovelace!" he called out again, leaving his car to look for his opponent. Next to the wreckage, Left found Lovelace unconscious and thrown from her car, which was crumpled and in pieces yards away. "Don't worry, Lovelace. You'll finish this race, car or not." Left promised as he picked her up and brought her back to his #24, continuing on the snowy road, now cleared by the GRX's flamethrowers.

Up ahead, Speed and Trixie's lead had grown exponentially, to the point where the GRX was out of view until they saw the glow from the flames in the rearview mirror. "They put flamethrowers in the GRX?" Trixie said, in disbelief as the GRX gained ground and passed the Mach 5, not having to actively fight against the fresh snow. "Why didn't they use that before?" Trixie asked.

"Probably because it has limited fuel for the fire, and it was waiting for the perfect moment to use them. It must mean that we'll be out of the storm soon." Speed replied, pulling the Mach 5 behind the GRX, and following it closely.

"Speed, look! It's Rosey Blaze!" Trixie notified, seeing the silver car in the side view mirror.

"Huh? What happened to Lovelace and Left?"

"I hope they're alright." Trixie said as the top three ran in single file behind the GRX, in last was Left Roardon, who was quickly approaching Rosey Blaze's #33, whose car was too old and slow to really be able to compete. Left put the nose of his car right behind the aircraft-like, pointed rear of Rosey's and gave it a bump, throwing the triangular car slightly off-balance.

"Come on!" Rosey shouted as she fought her wheel, trying to stabilize her car when Left gave her another gentle bump which pushed the car ever so slightly off the trail that the GRX was blazing. The right side of her car ran into the snow, throwing the traction off and causing the car to spin. Left backed off until Rosey spun out of the way, being able to slow down her car fast enough that she gently slid into the snow. Rosey got out of her car and watched the others get away, she turned around and slammed her fist on her car in frustration and anger. But she bottled it up and tried to get her car back out onto the road so she could re-join the race.

Back in Anchorage, Oriana and Trick continue to watch the race, "Wow, Oriana. You have any more surprises packed into that car?" Trick asked.

Oriana chuckled and puffed her cigarette, "That depends on how far Speed Racer will go to win the race, he's already seen the GRX-2's blinding ability and now it's flamethrowers; but I guarantee you, there's a few more."

"I can't wait to see it." Trick Idler smirked as he looked on.

"Speed, I think we can try and pass now." Trixie notified. Speed pulled out to the left of the GRX and began to gain ground. As he did, Trixie noticed that the GRX's interior wasn't glowing green anymore and she could see through the green tinted windows. She didn't see a driver, but she saw that the entire passenger's side and middle of the car were computers, the only seat being the driver's seat. "Speed, there's no one in the GRX!"

"Huh?" Speed looked over and saw all of the tech packed into the car. "Oh! I've never seen anything like that before."

"How is it possible? A car that drives itself with accuracy like this?"

"Now that I think of it, it makes sense." Speed said.

"How? What do you mean?"

"Well, think of it, Trixie. From the day we came up against this new GRX, it has used the perfect driving line, no matter who or what was in front of it. The computer has been calculating every move this whole time. Every turn, every pass, every time it revealed a new ability, it did so for self-preservation."

"I wonder what else it's hiding."

"Same, and I wonder who's behind all of this." Speed stepped a little more on the gas as the snowfall went away and the road became clearer. As the Mach 5 pulled out to pass, the GRX blocked the way, " _Come on, I gotta find a way to pass it!"_ Speed thought. He aimed the Mach 5 behind the GRX but kept accelerating as it bumped the GRX to throw it off, but it didn't work. This time, Speed bumped it again but moved the Mach 5 slightly to the left in order to get the GRX's rear wheels loose and it worked! Speed moved along-side the GRX and the two had a drag race along the road.

In Left's car, Lovelace began to wake up in the passenger's seat, "Where am I?" she asked, looking around to see Left driving.

"Your car was smashed off the road by Rosey Blaze." Left said.

"Why did you just leave me in the car?" Lovelace asked.

"Because your car was smashed to pieces and on fire; I don't know about you, but that wouldn't be very comfortable for anyone." Left explained.

"Well, thanks for saving me."

"Of course, I'm not a bad person." Left chuckled as they came into view of the Mach 5 and GRX drag racing. "Wow, they're really going at it, huh?" Left commented.

"Wow." Lovelace gasped, wide-eyed, watching the two cars get further and further away.

"I can't gain ground on it, no matter what I do." Speed said, getting frustrated and looking over at the GRX.

"Speed, look!" Trixie pointed out as a train crossing was coming up and the lights on the crossing began to blink.

"This is it. This is our opening." Speed said, really pushing the Mach 5 to its absolute limits. The freight train began to pass by as the two cars approached it, "It'll have no choice but to stop for the train." He added as the cars came in closer and closer until it was the perfect distance for Speed to press the A Button and the Mach 5 vaulted over the train! But to their surprise, the GRX blasted air under one side of the car and attempted the thread the needle by going sideways, in-between train cars! The train was going faster than the GRX and as the GRX went mostly through the hole, the train ended up hitting its rear, causing the autonomous car to skid on its side and spin when it came through as the Mach 5 landed safely. It also damaged the rear of the GRX greatly, the car's taillights and rear panels being torn completely off by the speeding train.

"I wonder what happened to it, I thought the car was supposed to be perfect." Trixie said.

"Maybe they made it too smart, Trixie. To the point where it may have second-guessed itself." Speed replied.

"Maybe it's not so invincible after all." Trixie said with confidence as the Mach 5 sped onward, not far away from the finish.

"What was that? I thought you said that the GRX was unbeatable!" Trick raised his voice.

"To be honest, Mr. Idler, I don't know what happened. It's like the car second-guessed itself which should never happen." Oriana answered, flabbergasted.

"Well, what do you think happened?" Trick asked, pointing at the GRX's wreckage on the screen.

Oriana pondered this and then answered, "I think when it saw Speed Racer make the jump, it decided that Speed's plan was better and last second it decided to follow suit, but it was too late." She said.

"How could some punk kid like Speed Racer outsmart a computer?"

"I don't think he did, I think his action was something the computer didn't consider since not every car has the ability to jump like that. Seems to have just been a coincidence." Oriana said, looking on.

"Well, was that the GRX's last trick?" Idler asked.

"No, there's two more that it hasn't used. I hope it won't have to use the last one." Oriana prayed as she looked at the TV, seeing Left Roardon pass her car.

The GRX had been badly damaged, the paint was scratched, the body was dented, and the rear of the car was almost totally gone. But as it laid on its side, it's wheels steered over to one side and tipped the car over on all fours, it sat there a moment before turning itself on, sending the gravely GRX engine back to life, and setting back off full-throttle back towards the other racers. The GRX was very angry and was on a mission to get back to the lead as it caught up to Roardon and Goldminter.

"Oh boy, it's coming back." Left sighed, moving out of the way of the GRX that passed them seamlessly.

"I think we're going to have to settle for second place." Lovelace added as the black, silver, and green car passed them in a blur.

"Speed!" Trixie called, looking into the side-view mirror.

"Oh!" Speed exclaimed as the GRX began to catch them. "I'm gonna give it a taste of its own medicine." Speed said, moving in front of the GRX to block it. The GRX was trying to make ground, but it was struggling to pass the newly modified Mach 5; Speed slid the Mach 5 in front of the GRX as scrap metal and debris flew out of the GRX's rear and onto the road.

"Jeez!" Left said, having to dodge all the metal to keep his tires safe.

The GRX hit the Mach 5 very hard, jolting Speed and Trixie while putting a triangular dent in the rear of the Mach 5.

"My car!" Sparky cried, watching from the hotel.

"Your car?!" Pops exclaimed, staring Sparky down as the young mechanic shrunk back and gave an embarrassed chuckle.

"It'll really stop at nothing to win!" Speed shouted, looking back.

"We need to figure out a way to put it out of commission for good, Speed!" Trixie said.

"I have a plan, Trixie, hang on." Speed said as he moved out of the GRX's way and backed down, allowing the car to pass. Speed grinned and got very close behind and pressed the C Button, deploying the cutter blades. The blades let out a high-pitched whirring and whining noise as they sped up to the point where they could cut trees instantaneously with barely noticeable power loss. "Let's see it get back up from this." Speed said as he moved the Mach 5 forward, cutting into the rear of the GRX until it reached the tires, shredding the rear tires, brakes, brake lines and even the rotors and rims! Sparks and more shrapnel and debris flew everywhere but before they could damage the Mach 5, Speed activated the auto-jacks once again, jumping over the GRX which had caught fire because the sparks set the fuel aflame! But as the Mach 5 landed, Speed and Trixie noticed that a huge piece of the GRX was launched in the air and as it fell to the ground, it unfolded and deployed two wheels and continued towards them!

"What happened, Speed?" Trixie asked, not being able to process what just transpired.

"It had a motorcycle hidden within it ready to go in case of a crash that incapacitated the normal car!" Speed answered.

"Well, it can't possibly have an engine as big as the GRX on-board, so it can't pass us, right?"

"That may be true, Trixie but now it's lighter than we are, and I'm not sure it'll let us even get close to it with the cutter blades now, so I don't know what else we're going to be able to do." Speed replied.

Oriana Flux then became very angry and walked over to her briefcase, "What're you doin'?" Trick questioned.

"Setting the bomb on board the GRX-2's motorcycle. It's not powerful enough to win, so if I can't win, nobody can." Oriana informed, setting the bomb and then grabbing her silenced pistol.

"Wait, what's that for?"

"I'm tired of the racers meddling in all of my plans. It ends tonight." Oriana said, walking out of her room, gun in hand as Trick looked on in fear of what was about to transpire.

" _The money doesn't matter anymore if she's going to fly off the handle and do this!"_ Trick thought to himself, quietly following Oriana out of the room. She stood by the railing on the third floor and looked down to the lobby where the Racers were all watching the race intently. She aimed the gun at Pops Racer, but before she could pull the trigger, Trick Idler hit her in the back of the head with a serving platter, sending her over the third-floor railing and to the hard lobby floor below. Everyone looked in shock as Trick made a quick getaway via the stairs leading to the roof and then a fire escape.

The people in the lobby looked shocked and Pops pushed passed the others and saw her, "Hey, this is Oriana Flux!" then he looked over and saw the gun, "No wonder, she must have seen the GRX doing badly against Speed and planned to take us out!" Pops exclaimed.

"That's right, Pops." Inspector Detector came in behind them. "Oriana Flux was also the one who killed Mr. Van Ruffle in Mexico City." He said.

"How could you tell?" Pops asked.

"Oriana was more business savvy than someone who would carry out a hit. We found her fingerprints in Mexico City and the ballistics matched her gun. We knew she had to be somewhere, but unfortunately, we were too late to get confirmation to move in before this happened." Inspector Detector explained.

"But what happened? That's the million-dollar question, from the looks of it she just fell." Pops said.

"She couldn't have." The inspector looked at her and noticed bruising on the back of her head. "She was hit over her head and fell over the railing up there. Let's go to her room, Pops. I want you to consult me on this investigation just in case anything you're an expert on any technology discovered."

"Okay, let's go!" Pops said as the two men quickly made their way to the third-floor room of Oriana Flux. As they arrived, they saw the laptop and they ran to it, "I've never seen a personal computer so small!" Pops exclaimed, marveling at how much it must've cost.

"Do you know what it's saying, Pops?" Inspector Detector asked.

Pops inspected the computer and looked at its screen with live updates on the GRX's status before seeing the line 'Admin Pass: 041967. GRX-2-ARMED' scrolling through the screen, Pops reeled back in horror, "We have to warn Speed and Left, I think the car's got a bomb!"

Only miles away from Anchorage, night was falling again, and the Mach 5 was able to stay a good distance ahead of the GRX, "It seems like we are beating it." Trixie said.

"Good. I hope it doesn't have any more tricks like that." Speed huffed, really wishing that the GRX would be gone for good.

"Speed, this is Pops, I need you to pick up right away, son!" Pop's voice crackled over the radio which was cutting off due to the cold weather.

Speed picked up the radio, "This is Speed. What is it, Pops?"

"Speed, I need you to use all of the power you have and don't stop once you cross the finish line. The GRX has –" the radio cut off at the most inopportune moment.

"Come in Pops, I didn't get the last part."

"The GRX –"

"The radio keeps cutting out, but I think I know what you're trying to say Pops. I'll figure out a way to stop the GRX from doing anything." Speed responded as he put the radio back on the hook.

"What do you think he was trying to say, Speed?"

"I think the GRX has a bomb, and if that's the case, I think I know how we're gonna stop it from causing too much damage."

"Attention, racing fans! The Mach 5 and the GRX are coming to the finish! Get your cameras ready to take a picture of this historic moment!" the announcer's voice rang out. Everyone looked in the distance, seeing the yellow lights of the Mach 5 and the green lights of the GRX quickly approaching! The crowd cheered as the Mach 5 crossed the line first, taking the checkered flag with the GRX following behind! "The winner of this year's No Limit World Race, for the second and consecutive time is the Mach 5! But wait… the two aren't stopping or even slowing down, they're headed to the coast! What's Speed thinking?" The announcer shouted as the confused crowd looked on.

"Hang on!" Speed warned, pressing the A and F Buttons, throwing the Mach 5 into the icy Alaskan waters, whilst activating the underwater mode. The GRX, set on destroying the Mach 5 and Speed followed, the autonomous motorcycle smashed through the stone and metal guardrails that separate the land from the water, and as it became submerged, it detonated, sending a massive pillar of water up stories high! The Mach 5 was jolted and due to the extreme damage that the car was already facing, it began to leak in multiple places, ice cold water touched Speed and Trixie's feet as Speed waited for the car to stabilize so he could get it back to the surface on time.

"Speed!" Pops called out as he and the rest of the team ran to the water where the Mach 5 leaped. As they did, Left Roardon crossed the line and he and Lovelace also left the car.

"What happened?" Left asked.

"Speed and the GRX both jumped into the sea and the GRX exploded!" Pops said a worried expression came over him as he realized the amount of damage that the Mach 5 sustained may have caused breaches, making it unstable under water. As the Mach 5 continued to sink, the bits and pieces left of the GRX floated down with it, Speed looked around as icy cold water continued to leak into the car.

"Speed, are you alright? We've gotta get outta here!" Trixie called, as her boyfriend zoned out from extreme exhaustion, having driven the bulk of the race and almost all of the third stage from Calgary to Anchorage without rest.

"Huh? Yeah, let's go win." Speed slurred, his exhaustion beginning to get the better of him. The Mach 5 hit the floor and Speed put the hammer down before activating the jacks, sending the Mach 5 through the surface and the hole in the wall and rails that the GRX left behind. The soaked, scratched, and torn car landed on the road and screeched to a halt in front of spectators and EMT's as Speed passed out and Trixie pressed the F Button to deactivate the shield and oxygen. Trixie helped the EMT's get Speed out of the Mach 5 as Left and Lovelace looked on; Rosey Blaze passed the finish not long after to see Speed getting carried into the ambulance. But instead of staying, Rosey turned around and drove away.

Sunlight came through a hospital window, softly landing on Speeds face; the light came through his eyelids, waking him up. His eyes fluttered, adjusting to the light. Speed jolted up in bed, not knowing where he was or how he got there, but then he looked to the foot of his bed and next to a vase full of white roses from his mother, sat the huge No Limit World Race trophy along with his helmet. Speed grinned, but then suddenly flinched, now feeling the aches and pain from the last leg of the race and allowed himself to gently lay back down. But as he did, Trixie came in a noticed that he was awake, "Pops, Sparky, Speed's awake!" she called out as the other two rushed over to Speed's bedside.

"How're you doing Speed?" Pops asked, relieved that Speed woke up.

"Everything aches, Pops." Speed groaned. "Where's Mom and Spritle?"

"Mom and Spritle went back home, they want to throw you a victory party." Pops smiled.

"Where's the Mach 5?" Speed shot back up, looking at Sparky.

Sparky rubbed his arm and looked at the floor, "You really beat that car up, Speed. It was completely destroyed; Pops and I are going to have to start from scratch."

Speed looked down, dejected, but Pops put his hand on Speed's shoulder, "Rebuilding the Mach 5 is going to take time, son. I'm going to have to do everything from scratch, the chassis, body, the engine, all of it."

"We could always move up a number and make something completely new, Speed." Sparky winked.

"No, the Mach 5 is my car. I don't know if there'll ever be a Mach 6…but it won't be mine." Speed explained.

"You got it, Speed. Do you have any requests before Sparky and I get to work on the car?" Pops asked.

"I had a list of things, but I only remember one."

"Well, what is it? Anything for our driver." Sparky nudged.

"The all-white paint isn't doing it for me anymore. I think the car would look better with a blue under-belly, I have it all drawn up back home." Speed said.

"Well, I guess I can't expect you to remember anything too technical in this state. But we'll get the paint job done, Speed." Pops chuckled.

"I'm just glad you're alright, Speed." Trixie said, taking Speed's hand.

Speed smiled, "Not even a moving bomb could keep me away from you, Trixie."

"Ohh, no. We'd better go before this get's any worse, Pops." Sparky whined. The group laughed together, reveling in their victory against Oriana Flux and the GRX.

Looking through binoculars on a hill across the way was Racer X, he put them away and thought to himself, " _I'm glad you're alright Speed. Even if Rex Racer can't return, I'll always be there in the nick of time. Always."_ Racer X then turned around and jumped back into the Shooting Star, driving off into the distance.

 _Speed and Trixie have survived the return of Oriana Flux and the GRX, as well as the return of some of their old enemies that they've met in races in the past year. Our heroes prevailed in saving Anchorage, Alaska but at the sacrifice of the fabulous Mach 5. But that doesn't mean that the Go Team's adventures are over. Join us next time for more thrills and excitement on the next episode of, Speed Racer! [Outro Music]_


	3. Enter the Mach 2 (Part 1)

Speed Racer: Enter the Mach 2 (Part 1)

[Intro Music]

Chapter 1: Enter the Mach 2 (Part 1)

Three months after the No Limit World Race, Speed, Pops, and Sparky had been diligently working on the new Mach 5. Progress was going smoothly on the car, as it was being completed faster than expected; many companies gifted Mifune Motors the parts that they need to rebuild as thanks for saving the people of Anchorage. Pops was also a big help, keeping a large stash of spare parts in his garage for just such an occasion. As Sparky takes the new, lighter body of the Mach 5 to get its new paint, we join the father and son Racers who continue to wrench away on the Mach 5.

"How's it going over there, Speed?" Pops asked, looking over at his son who was finishing installing the new brakes.

"It's going fine, Pops." Speed muttered.

"I'm sorry we haven't been able to enter you into any races, son." Pops said.

Speed sighed and put his tools down for a moment, "I can't stand not racing Pops. But the only chance I have is to enter an open-wheel Formula race, and they're so strict on manufacture championships, that it's almost impossible to find a spot."

"Well, Trixie is working very hard to find an opening for you, Speed. I'm sure she'll let you know when something comes up."

"I know, I appreciate that, and I hope she finds something soon." Speed replied as he finished installing the brakes and put the wheels back onto the car. He stepped back, looking at the Mach 5 without anything covering it, he wiped his brow, and put his hands on his hips, smiling at the nearly completed car. "Well, it's getting late, so I'm going to grab a snack and go to bed, Pops." Speed notified.

"Okay, Speed. I just have a few more touches to put on the new engine." Pops smiled.

"Alright, but don't overdo it, Pops." Speed said, and Pops nodded in response before returning to his new GOH-V12. Speed walked straight from the garage and into the kitchen of his home, he continued to his room but was stopped as he passed by the living room.

"Speed?" Mom Racer called.

Speed ducked his head through the arch between the hall and living room, "Yeah, Mom?"

"Come here, Speed. I want to talk to you." Mom said in a gentle tone, softly patting her hand on the couch cushion next to her.

"Is something wrong?" Speed yawned, stretching his arms out, exhausted from the amount of work he's been doing on the Mach 5. He walked over to the couch and took a seat next to his mom.

"You know, Trixie has been working very hard to find a race for you while you, Pops, and Sparky work on the Mach 5, Speed." Mom started.

"That's right, I don't know what I'd do without her help." Speed said, smiling and leaning back.

"Well, I was wondering if you have any plans to take her anywhere soon. You are her boyfriend after all, and there are responsibilities to that, too." Mom explained.

"I know, mom. Honestly, I've been thinking more about the Mach 5 than taking Trixie on a date. I guess I should take a break and let Pops and Sparky handle some stuff for a couple of days." Speed admitted.

"My thoughts exactly, dear. The last time you took her on a date was for dinner a month ago, so I think she deserves some company, all things considered."

"You're right, I'll get to thinking on where to take Trixie. Maybe we'll go somewhere in a couple of days." Speed resolved, but just then, the phone rang. "I'll get it." Speed said, walking over to the kitchen and picking up the phone, "Racer residence, this is Speed." He greeted.

"Great news, Speed! I was able to find you a spot in a race!" Trixie's voice rang excitedly through the phone.

"That's great, Trixie! Which one?"

"The Grand Prix of Prague, two spots opened after one of the teams got disqualified for cheating. They're holding the last open spot for us, and we need to act fast because the race is this weekend."

Pop's voice then came through, as he picked up the phone that was in the garage, "We'll take it, Trixie. Speed, tell your mother that we're going to Prague this weekend."

"You got it Pops." Speed said, hearing Pops hang up. "Are you gonna be over tomorrow morning like usual?" Speed asked.

"Of course, Speed. I'll get packing and see you then!"

"Great, I'll see you then, Trix."

"Bye-bye, Speed." Trixie ended before hanging up.

Speed turned around, "Mom, we're going to Prague this weekend to race in the Grand Prix!" Speed called.

"Alright, dear, and think of where you're going to take Trixie after you win the race." She winked as Speed went off to bed.

The next day comprised of packing and getting the open-wheel Formula Mach 5 ready for transportation overseas. While Pops and Sparky handled everything to do with the car, Speed and Trixie handled everything to do with the track, looking it over mile-by-mile, "The Grand Prix of Prague is one of the Formula 1 street circuits this season. Being a street circuit, this race goes directly through the city, and you'll end up going across bridges that go over the river, when you cross the first bridge, you'll be met with a sharp, and wide right turn that goes into a straightaway which will go to a fast-uphill left turn…" Trixie continued directing Speed and formulating a strategy on winning the race up until they had to go to the airport and arrive in Prague.

"Have fun everyone! Don't hover over the kids too much, okay, Pops?" Mom said.

"I won't, dear you don't have to worry." Pops winked, knowingly.

"Good luck, Speed, you better win because me and Chim Chim will be watching!" Spritle said, hugging his big brother.

"I'll win, Spritle, you won't have to worry about that." Speed chuckled, patting Spritle on the head. "You sure you don't want to come, Sparky?" Speed asked, putting his red suit coat on.

"That's alright, Speed. I'll be resting and working on the Mach 5 while you're gone, Pops is the one who knows everything about your Formula 1 car anyway, so it only makes sense that I stay here."

"Alright, Sparky. You take care, alright?"

"I will, Speed, I'll be watching the race, too, so make sure you win." Sparky answered as Speed, Trixie, and Pops all climbed aboard Pop's flatbed and went to the airport. At the airport, Speed and Trixie boarded the plane as Pops and the ramp workers loaded the Mach 5 F1 onto the plane.

When the plane lifted off, it took around 9 hours to get to Prague, so the three took the time to sleep. When morning came, Trixie opened her eyes and saw the sun shimmering off the clouds, "Oh, Speed, isn't that beautiful? I never get tired of flying."

"It is." Speed smiled, looking down at the clouds as the plane descended through them on approach to the airport in Prague. "Whoa…" Speed gasped in awe at the old city as it became visible.

"Wow, I can only imagine what it's going to be like racing through that. It'll be very cramped, so you'd best be on-guard." Trixie informed as the plane landed only a few minutes later. The team walked down the stairs of the plane and onto the tarmac, where Pops' rental truck was waiting for the Mach 5 F1 to be unloaded. But as it was being unloaded, the three noticed another crowd forming at a plane adjacent to them.

"Let's go see what that's all about." Speed said, taking Trixie's hand and hurrying over to the other plane. As they arrived, Speed stopped in shock, as one of his competitor's cars was unloaded, no doubt the one that filled the other spot of the team that was disqualified. The car was mostly blue, the nose cone was red, and separating the two colors was a white "M" emblazoned on it, and on the side of the car was a red circle with a gold/yellow "2" inside of it.

"Could it be, Speed?" Trixie asked.

"I'm afraid that it is." Pops sighed, scaring the two since they didn't know that he was behind them. The way to the hotel in the city was silent until they reached their rooms, Pops sat in a chair as Trixie got unpacked.

"What was that, Pops? Was that really the Mach 2? I thought you said that the car failed the development stage, so you destroyed it." Speed interrogated.

"It was a little more complicated than that, son." Pops answered.

"Well, we have time, don't we?" Speed retorted.

"I guess I have to tell you now that you know." Pops took a breath and a sip of coffee before continuing, "The Racer family has always wanted to be in as many races as possible, you know this as well as anyone in the family, Speed. With Rex…the Mach 1 and 2 were supposed to be his. But on that day, he felt that old Racer urge to race and push the envelope, so he stole the Mach 1 and you know the rest. He was 17 at the time, I was waiting until his 18th birthday to present him with the Mach 1 and 2 officially, but he squandered that chance. So, I was then left with a destroyed Mach 1 and a finished but never driven Mach 2. So, I did something I've never done and will never do again, and sold the Mach 2 at private auction, especially since I never planned to allow you to race, I wouldn't need it."

"But you have built more cars since then." Speed said.

"That's right, your cousin Hank wanted to race, and my brother approved so I built the Mach 3 and Mach 4. But then Hank had his accident in the Mach 4 as I was developing the Mach 5 with Sparky. The Mach 5 was always going to be yours, and that's because Hank's career had been a success up until that point."

"Whatever happened to the Mach 3?" Trixie asked.

Pops twiddled his fingers and blushed a little, "The Mach 5 F1 **is** the Mach 3, just with a different number on it. Another thing I've never done before in my career, but I just don't want to have to see bad memories everywhere I turn."

"But that means, I'm not that much faster than the Mach 2." Speed said.

"That's right, Speed. I'm sorry I never told you about what happened with the Mach 2."

"That okay, Pops. You were only doing what you thought was right. But, do you remember who you sold it to?"

"I don't, Speed, it's a little over ten years ago since I sold that car, so I don't know what capabilities it'll have or who's owning or driving it." Pops answered, rubbing the back of his neck.

"Well, that just means we're going to need even more rest than before, right Speed?" Trixie interjected.

"Right, we'll figure this all out tomorrow, I need some rest." Speed said.

"Alright, Speed. Tomorrow is practice and qualifying so we only have a couple of shots to make it right."

"I understand. Good night, Pops."

"Good night Speed, good night, Trixie."

"'Night, Pops." Trixie said as Pops left the room and the two went to sleep.

Meanwhile, in a country club in the hills, a red sedan arrives in the driveway, pulling up to the valet. The valet lets out the passengers, one was short and fat, sporting a large grin on his face; he handed the valet a handsome tip as he got out, and a very skinny woman in a black dress followed him. The valet driver went to the driver's seat and out came a man with curly light-brown hair who looked disinterested by everything, he left the driver's seat and let the valet park their car.

The three entered the lobby, and a butler led them to another room that was on the perimeter of the lobby and knocked on the door, "Let em' in." a voice answered from inside. The butler opened the door to reveal a man with grey hair and a grey thin mustache sitting behind a large desk, and smoking a cigar. He got up from his chair and greeted the large man first, "Welcome to my office, Mr. Racket, I'm Clande Shorthand, pleased to make your acquaintance."

"Thank you, Mr. Shorthand, let me introduce Wendy and my driver, Dash Whisker." Racket introduced, accepting the handshake.

"Ah, Dash. Just the man I wanted to see." Shorthand said, noting at Dash's less-than-formal appearance in a red and white windbreaker and skinny jeans, "Hah, drivers really do only dress nicely if they're at a gala or if they're retired." Shorthand joked.

"I'm not a fashion-centric man like you, Mr. Shorthand. All I'm interested in is the race tomorrow, and now that Speed Racer is in it, that means more problems for me." Dash responded to everyone's shock.

"D-Dash! You can't just…" Racket was interrupted in the middle of scolding

"Right to the point, eh, Whisker? Another trait of drivers in their prime, they always want all of the information as fast as possible." Clande laughed before taking another puff of his cigar, "Well then, I'll lay it out for you. The Mach 2 is currently in for performance upgrades to be able to compete with the Mach 5 F1 since it hasn't been used since I bought it of Pops Racer 11 years ago. Along the way of making these upgrades, we've found some interesting things." Clande then put his cigar out and continued, "The Mach 2 was way ahead of its time when I got it, this thing was built to win every race it entered. Performance-wise we only had to replace things, no real upgrades were needed, even now; I have a few buddies in the FIA, who officiate the Formula 1 races who let me pit the Mach 2 against the fastest cars right now, and even then, the Mach 2 won. Not only that, but it appears to have been equipped with two special defensive measures, like an indestructible canopy and special tires made for better grip. But I thought that wasn't good enough, so we're adding…"

"I don't need superpowers to beat Speed Racer, he's just a kid and I've been racing for years." Dash interrupted, scoffing at the notion of having to cheat.

"We'll cheat if we have to!" Shorthand slammed his fist on his desk, making Racket and Wendy jump. "We're going to win the Grand Prix of Prague by any means, there's a lot riding on this victory, so we're going to do anything to win!"

"What is riding on this win, Mr. Shorthand? I don't understand the urgency." Racket said.

Shorthand sat back down in his chair and leaned back, "The winnings for this race are enough to pay Dash, as well as some people who are after me."

"Who's after you?"

"The Three Roses Club. I never paid them off after I requested a hit, if I don't pay up soon, I'm finished. I wouldn't have taken the Mach 2 out of storage, and I wouldn't be asking you to do this if I didn't seriously need help."

"Well, Dash? Can he count on you?" Racket asked.

"Yeah, he can count on me to win the race." Dash answered.

"Wonderful, now we must plan your strategy and discuss some of my special addons." Clande grinned as nighttime fully fell on Prague.

Chapter 2: Qualifying

Saturday morning arrived, and hardcore race fans lined the streets of Prague to see practice and qualifying. In the pits, Speed took his seat in the Mach 5 F1, he untied his ascot, unrolled it and tied it back around to cover his face, since open-wheel cars don't have windshields, he needed something to protect his mouth from things floating or flying in the air, he then put his helmet on and pulled the visor down. "Here you go, Speed." Pops handed Speed the key and Speed inserted the key, twisted it, and flipped a switch, causing the Mach 5 F1 to come to life. "Alright, Speed, I've made sure that everything is tightened and where it should be, so you should be good to go when it's your turn." Pops informed.

"You got it, Pops." Speed answered as he took to the track before qualifying began in the afternoon. The Mach 5 F1 was extremely fast, as Speed hiked the open-wheeler into turns that went uphill and downhill, he went around a hairpin turn, he flew under arches, and over very old bridges that spanned the width of the river, this became one of the most beautiful races that Speed had ever been involved in, but he couldn't soak up the scenery because he had a few more laps of practice to do. When he finished, he unbuckled and jumped out of the car excitedly, "That was amazing!" he said before noticing the look on Pops' face, Speed turned to see the leaderboard and it was Dash Whisker in the Mach 2 who was the fastest in practice.

"You need to shave off 0.7 seconds if you're gonna beat Dash, Speed." Pops said.

"I bet I can beat him in qualifying." Speed said determined as Dash looked on from his pit stall.

"I've got the kid beat." He said to Racket.

"Don't say that until the race, I don't like jinxes." Racket warned.

"I don't believe in jinxes, I believe in evidence." Dash replied as he went back to the garage to relax until qualifying, in which he was going to be second to last to qualify.

Speed, Trixie, and Pops all sat in their own garage that sat right outside of the pits strategizing, "Alright, Speed, tell me where you have the most trouble." Pops said.

"I have a lot of trouble at the wider corners like turn 1 and turn 8. I can't seem to stay on the racing line when I'm in those turns." Speed admitted.

"Ah, so you **can** gain that .7 seconds." Pops grinned.

"Yeah, yeah, just give me pointers." Speed said. After another bout of strategizing, qualifying began. Ferrari, Brabham, and Lotus dominated the qualifying boards. But that was until Dash Whisker won the pole with the Mach 2, putting Mifune Motors on the manufactures championship board.

"Well, at least the Mach 2 is making us look good." Pops commented, noting that the very person they were racing against just put points on the championship board for them just by driving the Mach 2.

"Yeah, but I'll make us look better." Speed said, bringing the Mach 5 F1 to life.

"I hope so, Speed. Remember, everyone here is more experienced at this kind of racing than you, so don't get so cocky." Pops said.

"I know." Speed replied, putting his visor down and going to the Start/Finish line.

A few minutes later, the announcer called out, "Speed Racer, standby!" Speed gripped his wheel and revved the engine, eyes fixated on the flagman who raised the green flag. The flagman then brought the green down and Speed stepped on it, fighting the wheel for traction upon launch. He went across a bridge and into turn one, as he turned, he oversteered ever-so-slightly and fell off of the preferred line, but as the turn gave way to the straight, he blasted down full speed! He applied the brakes as he came to the left turn that brought him uphill, into another left that went downhill into a right. Despite his earlier blunder, Speed Racer was back on track, going around the hairpin with no problem as well as the turn after it. But then came turn eight, and to his dismay, he understeered the car, going too wide and losing precious milliseconds because of it! Turn eight led him across another bridge into the thick of the city where he went through a chicane, the final turn and back to the straightaway where he crossed the finish line!

Speed pulled into the pits and took his helmet off, already knowing the outcome of the qualifying lap, he looked at the board that showed the times:

Driver: Dash Whisker—Manufacturer: Mifune Motors—Team: Independent—Car: Mach 2—Time: 1:29:00—Place: Pole Position.

Driver: Speed Racer—Manufacturer: Mifune Motors—Team: GO Team—Car: Mach 5 F1—Time: 1:30:08—Place: 6th Position.

Speed looked dejected as he took his ascot off his face, and squeezed it tightly in his hand before walking away back to the hotel, "Wait, Speed! Where are you going?" Trixie called out, but Pops put a hand on her shoulder.

"It's no use, Trixie, Speed just needs to be alone right now to sort this out." Pops said.

Dash watched all of the Racer drama unfold as he smoked a cigarette outside of his garage, "Tch, I don't need any powers." He grinned, tossing the cigarette on the ground and putting it out with his foot.

 _Will Speed be able to beat veteran driver, Dash Whisker in tomorrow's race? Has the Three Roses Club recuperated enough to pose a threat after their disastrous run in the No Limit World Race months ago? Find out on the next episode of, Speed Racer! [Outro Music]_


	4. Enter the Mach 2 (Part 2)

Speed Racer: Enter the Mach 2 (Part 2)

[Intro Music]

Chapter 3: Enter the Mach 2 (Part 2)

Speed opened the door to his hotel room and forcefully closed it behind him, he tossed his ascot across the room as he sat on his bed with his face in his hands. _"How? How did I do so badly? I'm in one of the fastest cars and I couldn't get any higher than 6th?"_ Speed thought to himself, running his hands through his wavy hair.

"Speed?" Trixie's voice asked through the door as she cracked it open.

"Huh?" Speed looked over his shoulder, "Oh, hey, Trixie. I'm sorry for storming off like that."

"It's okay, Speed. I know it's been months since you raced, and you really want to win." Trixie walked over and picked up Speed's ascot from the floor and sat next to him on the bed, "But you're just out of your element on this one, you know that. Usually, we're racing rallies and endurance circuit races, just last year you only did two open-wheel races, so I wouldn't be so hard on yourself." She reminded.

"I know, it's not just that, Trixie. I wanted to use my cut of the winnings to take you somewhere nice after the race before we leave." Speed took Trixie's hands that were still holding onto the ascot, "Trixie, I've been spending so much time on the Mach 5 that I haven't been trying hard enough in our own relationship, and I want to do my best in that and in this Grand Prix."

"Oh, Speed. I know your mind is on so many things, that's why I haven't been prying. But if you feel that way, I'm glad. She let go of her grip on the ascot, allowing it to slip into Speed's hands as she wrapped her arms around him and said, "But first, let's get you on the podium, alright?"

Speed reciprocated and smiled, "Alright. Thanks, Trixie."

In the country club, "Great job, Dash!" Clande congratulated, pouring scotch into three glasses, "Mr. Racket, I'm glad you have such a talented driver for this race." Clande handed the glasses over and raised his, "A toast, to growing old!" He said.

"Here, here!" Mr. Racket joined as Dash silently toasted the others.

"So, Dash, it turns out that you might not even need the Mach 2's powers to defeat Speed Racer." Clande said, taking a sip of his drink.

"That may be true, but I'm still worried." Dash answered.

"What do you mean, Dash?" Racket asked.

"Speed Racer is driven, no pun intended. He's got a golden horseshoe and a lot of skill, so I expect to be battling him almost all race long." Dash explained.

"Well, just keep your times consistent and make sure that they're always ahead of Racer's and you'll win. I don't think you'll have to worry." Racket answered.

"That's right because if you're worried, Dash…then I'm worried. If you don't win this race, it's all over for me, I'm a dead man." Clande said, looking down at his drink and leaning on his desk. Dash and Racket looked worried, a bead of sweat left Racket's forehead, as he became nervous about this situation as well.

"You know I'll try my best." Dash said.

"You'd better." Clande answered as night fell once again over Prague.

The next day, music from a band in a parade broke through the crisp morning, the sun's glow came in through the window of Speed and Trixie's room as Pops knocked on the door, "We should be all set, Speed. Hurry it up and get down here." Pops said before leaving to the pits outside.

"Alright, Speed. Today's the day." Trixie said.

Speed let out a deep breath and grabbed his helmet, "Alright, let's go have some breakfast and race." The two went downstairs, Speed and Trixie grabbed a bowl of cereal and coffee from the hotel's café and had a light breakfast before heading to the pits that were situated just outside of where they were staying. Speed looked over to the start/finish line where the grid was already set, but he didn't stare at his car, he was staring at the Mach 2, still in disbelief that he would be racing against what would have been Rex's car. They walked over to their pit stall and saw Pops checking fuel, spare tires, and supplies, "Hey Pops." Speed greeted.

"Good to know you showed up, Speed." Pops said.

"I just stopped for cereal and coffee, no big deal." Speed defended.

"Alright, breakfast is important I guess, but listen Speed, since the race starts in a few minutes, so I only have so much time to run you through our strategy for today.

"I'm listening." Speed said.

"Alright, so you already know the obvious, the race is 67 laps, but means that we're going to have to make at least 3 stops, all three for fuel and the second one for tires, got it? I'm going to let you know by holding this blackboard over the wall when you pass by, so pay attention." Pops said, pointing to a large blackboard that F1 teams used to communicate times and pit strategy since they lacked in-car radios.

"Okay, Pops, I'll make sure to pay attention." Speed said as the announcer called for drivers to get to their cars.

"Make me proud, son." Pops smiled, Speed returned the smile and walked to the Mach 5 F1 with Trixie.

"Just be careful, Speed. Don't race any harder than you have to." Trixie said as Speed lowered himself into the car.

"I'll be alright, don't worry." Speed said as Trixie helped him with the seatbelts since the small, one-seater car inhibited a lot of movement from the driver.

Trixie knelt to the pavement and kissed Speed on the cheek, "Good luck, Speed." She said, and Speed nodded in response, getting focused for the big race, his eyes still set on the Mach 2 as Dash Whisker got strapped into the car. The pre-race ceremonies started and finished in a flash as the flagman stood with the green flag.

"Gentleman, start your engines!" the announcer called and the rear-mounted V-12 engines roared to life, anticipating the start of the race.

 _"I've got to win this race…I've got to."_ Speed thought as he focused on the flagman.

Chapter 4: The Grand Prix of Prague

As the excitement peaked and the huge engines revved to their limits, the flagman waved the green flag and the 19 cars launched from the grid creating white tire smoke in their wake! The drivers fought the cars to stay straight on the road since the power from the engines was so extreme, and the cars were so light, that they squealed and swayed sideways unless the driver fought to keep it pointed in the right direction. They went over the bridge without incident into turn 1, which is one of the tough turns for Speed to handle. Cars bumped each other's wheels all bunching up in the corner, fighting for position over one another, and Speed yet again had some trouble, as another car to passed him up, causing him to drop into 7th. Dash, on the other hand, was masterfully wielding the Mach 2, pointing the car's red nose exactly where he wanted it to be, and he started to gain a lead on the rest of the cars.

As the wide turn gave way to a long straight, Speed was able to unleash the power of the Mach 5 F1 and began to pass, regaining his 6th spot while also being able to pass for 5th. When the straight ended and came to the high speed uphill left turn, he was able to take 4th place away from a car that was struggling, but the car he passed lost control on the turn, causing the car to spin and hit the traffic behind him, taking himself and two others out of the race. Exiting the turn was another left that went into a straight that went downhill and into a right turn, this was Speed's strongest part of the track, where he was able to pass 3rd place as they went around the right turn and into a hairpin. Unfortunately for Speed, Dash was gaining seconds on them, getting further and further ahead as the track went under a building and out into Speed's next trouble turn, turn 8, where he overcompensated and ended up losing two positions, putting him in 5th. Once that turn ended it was over another bridge, and back into the thick of downtown, where a sharp turn and chicane awaited the drivers before the final corner and back around to the start/finish!

"Speed's only in fifth, I wonder what happened." Pops said, rubbing the back of his head.

"It's those turns, if he doesn't get it right, he's going to be trading these positions all race long." Trixie sighed and that's exactly what Speed did as the laps counted down. Half of the race passes, and Speed pulls in for his fuel and tires stop along with most of the other drivers.

"Speed, you've been battling for third and fourth all race, is it those turns?" Trixie asked as Pops fueled the car.

"Yeah, I've got to figure out how to get past that, they're becoming a real problem for me." Speed answered.

"Try using less throttle, son. Try holding speed after you break and then start accelerating three fourths through the turn because it's the torque that's doing you in." Pops suggested as Trixie grabbed a dolly and lifted the front of the car, so Pops could change the tires. Pops grabbed the new tires, undoing the single large nut holding the wheels in place and putting the new ones on as fast as he could. As the dolly dropped and the tires were changed, Speed gunned it out of the pits leaving Pops panting and sweating profusely, "I should've brought Sparky with." Pops huffed, watching Speed drive away. Speed exited the pits in last due to his small team and had a lot of time and ground to make up, but he would first have to make it around the wide turns of the course. Speed got to the bridge, sped over it and then hit his breaks for turn one, he turned in, held a speed and then, like Pops said, accelerated in the last half of the corner and it worked! Speed was finally back in this race as he sped towards the 11 remaining cars.

"That's it!" Speed smiled under his ascot that covered his face as his open-wheeler finally felt like an extension of himself as he took it around the track. A few laps later, on lap 37, he found himself catching the others and he began to pass many of them, by lap 42, he was already in 6th again and he was quickly gaining more ground.

As the cars passed the start/finish, Dash noticed Racket holding their blackboard that read, "Here he comes!" on it with a #5 in a circle to warn him that Speed was finally getting a hang of this style of racing. Dash looked at his steering wheel with the buttons, knowing that one button was for extra grip, but what Clande changed the other one too, he had no idea and he hoped that he wouldn't have to find out.

On a TV in his office, Clande Shorthand watches as Speed Racer passes another car, entering 5th place, "This isn't good. This is not good." Clande said, his hands clasped together as he paced in his office. He went over to his alcohol tray and poured himself a drink with shaky hands. "I shouldn't be so worried, Dash is far more experienced than the Racer kid, even if he has a faster car."

"Speed Racer passes again into fourth position!" the commentator said on the TV.

"I'm going to die." Shorthand whispered to himself, taking a swig of his drink.

"I'm gonna win!" Speed said, his eyes lighting up with excitement as they went on the downhill portion once again. The laps continued to wind down until the time finally came at lap 50 to refuel for the last time, the cars pulled into the pits, Pops fueled the Mach 5 F1 and they were off! Now Speed had a fighting chance to win as he emerged out of the pits in 4th, keeping his previous position.

Dash grinned, "No way that Racer kid is gonna be able to catch me." He looked in his side-view mirror, not seeing Speed Racer which made him very confident as the cars came over the second bridge and into the tight squeeze of the city, but as they did, 2nd and 3rd were racing side-by-side which didn't last as one hit a bump and flew into the other, sending the other car across its front and into a concrete barrier, sending the two cars into the air!

"Oh!" Speed exclaimed as he hit the A Button, deploying a protective canopy, sending the shrapnel bouncing off the Mach 5 F1. He pressed it again since he couldn't see thanks to the fluids landing on the canopy and he lacked wipers.

"Hooray, Speed!" Trixie and Pops cheered from the pit box as the Mach 2 passed with the Mach 5 F1 not so close behind.

"Mifune Motors has taken control of this race!" The announcer's voice crackled over the TV in the Racer household an entire hemisphere away.

"Go Speed, go!" Speed's family and friends cheered as Speed gained on the Mach 2 on the straightaway because of its superior power. But Dash had superior control due to his experience behind the wheel of Formula 1 cars as he was able to get the most out of the Mach 2 on the turns, far more than Speed could get out of the Mach 5 F1.

"Come on, you have to give me something." Speed muttered as Dash made the Mach 2 as wide as he could, blocking Speed's every attempt at making a successful pass. The pipes on each car's engine spat flames as they went uphill, and that's when Speed began to catch Dash, they went around the other left turn into the downhill portion where Speed pulled alongside the Mach 2, and into the fast and dipping right turn that gave way to a small straight going into the left hairpin where the Mach 2 was able to gain first position again. They battled it out, into a small right and under a building to the wide-left where Dash was able to gain a little ground on Speed, but not as much as he was previously able to do as they both went over the bridge, into the city, through the tightest section of the track and passed the start/finish, going into lap 60!

Clande Shorthand was losing his mind inside of his office in his club, where many of his investors and associates were attending to watch the race and enjoy the weather, Clande was definitely not enjoying anything, now that Speed Racer was challenging for the win and it looked like Dash wasn't going to be able to hang on. He rushed to his personal rotary phone by his desk and dialed a building in the city to get a hold of Racket. A few minutes pass and Racket picks up the phone, "Hello?"

"What is happening out there, Racket?" Clande shouted.

"I dunno, the Racer kid somehow found his mojo out there, but Dash will get the job done, be patient, Mr. Shorthand, these races always come down to the wire."

"This is more than down to the wire, Racket! Win or you're done for! Tell him to use the weapon now!" Clande yelled before slamming the phone on the hook and looking on the TV, over the time that they were talking, the race was on lap 63 of 67 as Clande began to tear his hair out.

As the Mach 2 and Mach 5 F1 came back around to start lap 64, Racket held out his blackboard that read, "Shorthand says use it!"

Dash's eyes move from the sign to his side-view where Speed still was. "I don't need stupid powers to beat him!" he shouted to himself, knowing that it was becoming more and more difficult to keep Speed away. During lap 64, the two found themselves side-by-side more often and as lap 65 came, Racket held another sign telling Dash that this was his final chance, his "one shot". He sighed and slowed slightly, letting Speed pass him around turn 1, but as Speed passed, Dash pressed his A Button and metal spikes protruded from the front of the car. The spikes were on a hinge that snapped the spikes to face sideways as the purpose was to drive up to the rear of a car and stab the engine or tires, Dash went for the most obvious and aimed for the tires and began to speed up.

"Huh?" Speed looked in his side-view, "Oh! I don't believe it, Whisker is gonna race dirty!" Speed gasped as he punched his B Button, deploying the belt tires so as Dash slammed the spike into the Mach 5 F1's armored tire, the spike broke clean off!

"No way!" Dash shouted.

Both the Racer family, Clande, and the rest of his country club looked on in shock at the blatantly obvious attack on Speed Racer. Clande shouted, "It's over, oh god, it's over!" he ran to his car and sped back home so he could have time to pack up and run before The Three Roses caught him. "I have to get my clothes and my gun before they show up!" he thought, flooring it to one of his homes in the hills.

"Pops, what was with that spike?" Trixie raised her voice, hoping that Pops didn't install a power used for offense in the Mach 2.

"I don't know, Trixie. On the Mach 2, the A Button was a shield, they must've changed its function."

"Thank goodness, I thought you installed it." Trixie sighed in relief.

"Absolutely not. To tell the truth, I had some reservations about the rotary blades on the Mach 5 until I saw the way Speed used them. The system is called the 'Safety 7' for a reason. You know, 7 buttons, all defensive in nature, meant to keep the driver safe."

"So, would that make the Mach 5 F1 the 'Safety 3' since it's really just the Mach 3?"

"That is correct. Originally, on the Mach 1, the only safety button was the canopy, but after Rex lost control, I invented the belt tires and they prove to be quite possibly the most valuable system on the cars since." Pops explained as the Mach 2 and Mach 5 F1 crossed the start/finish to begin lap 66.

"Two to go." Trixie notified as she looked back to watch the cars pass and see the flagman ready the white flag.

Speed drove as close as he could to Dash, and shouted, "What's the big idea?"

Dash could barely hear him over the exposed V-12's but he understood and yelled back, "Sorry, kid, I didn't want to! I don't wanna do this, either, but I wanna win!" Dash slammed into Speed, throwing him off for a moment, but Speed was able to keep the Mach 5 F1 under control as he charged back to meet Dash Whisker's challenge.

The two were so far ahead of the rest of the pack, that the only challenge they had was each other, no one was sitting down in the bleachers that they set up at points around the course, everyone was on their feet and holding their breath as the two screamed around to the start/finish as the flagman waved the white flag, signaling the final lap of the race!

"Time to break free of this." Speed said, hitting the B Button again, deploying the grip tires as the two went around turn one! With the superior grip, the Mach 5 F1 took the lead for the first time in the race!

"Two can play that game, kid." Dash grumbled, pressing his B Button as well, deploying his set of grip tires. He pulled along-side Speed down the straight and they stayed side-by-side as they took the fast left-hander up the hill. The mixture of the cars being so light, the excessive grip and the raw power so was intense that they reached G forces unlike any other car of the time. _"This… this is unreal."_ Dash thought as he looked over to Speed as they came out of the turn, _"This level of intensity… this is normal for him?"_ he added as they went down the short straight, into the next left and down the hill.

Speed, having more power, gained the advantage going downhill and around the right turn into the straightaway, but Dash gained that back when Speed had to slow down more for the hairpin turn, the Mach 2 took the lead from there since the hairpin and the wide turn 8 was Speed's weakest section, but Dash had to be careful when it gave way to another straight. Speed pulled in behind the Mach 2 entering the hairpin and followed Dash as they went into the right turn, to the straight under the building and into turn 8, "Now's my chance." Speed thought aloud as the turn opened to the second bridge and as they got on the bridge, the Mach 5 F1 pulled out from behind the Mach 2. The two men saw the extremely sharp left turn coming up and neither wanted to give an inch, but the Mach 5 F1 gained ground because not only was it faster, Speed was using a slingshot maneuver to get by, using his now reduced drag to more easily pull ahead. The Mach 5 F1 gained the advantage. But then, the second bridge section was coming to a close as both drivers grit their teeth and squinted their eyes, ready for anything! But it was in that moment, that Dash made an error and gave way to his normal instincts, not knowing what the belt tires could handle since he never used them, he hit the brakes and locked them up, allowing Speed to pass and pull in front on the entry to the sharp turn!

Speed then took a right turn and into a chicane where he came to the final wide-left and onto the front straight! As he went, he was able to gain ground on the Mach 2 as colorful confetti shot in the air as Speed took the checkered flag and crossed the finish line! "Mifune Motors finishes in P. 1 and 2 with the Mach 5 F1 leading the way! History has been made at the Grand Prix of Prague, folks!" the announcer shouted as the crowd cheered in excitement. The Racer household erupted in celebration as they began to make plans for Speed's victory party for when he, Pops, and Trixie return home.

"I made it! I made it." Speed breathed deeply, slowing down to safely make his way back around the circuit. Dash slammed his hand on the steering wheel and looked forward at Speed, who was obviously more relaxed, Dash pulled up next to Speed, but instead of being callous and a bad sport, he pointed at Speed, gave him the thumbs up, and drove around ahead, letting Speed take his victory lap. As Dash made his way around, he stopped the Mach 2 in the Goh Team's pit stall and hopped out.

"Dash Whisker? What was the big idea during the race, I didn't put those spikes in the Mach 2!" Pops shouted.

"I know, Mr. Racer but listen. I was put up to it by someone." Dash explained, disappointed in himself.

"Who put you up to it?" Pops asked.

"That's all I can say, the man who did is probably gone now, that's why I was racing as hard as I was, he needed the money…or else."

"Oh…" Pops looked surprised.

"Anyways, congratulations, Mr. Racer. The Mach 2 is a mighty car to drive, but it's not mine and it's not the other guy's anymore so you can have it back. I don't know what you'll do with it, but you can have it."

"You don't have to do that, Dash. I'm sure we can arrange for it to be in your garage."

"I don't want it, it now represents the lowest point in my career. Please take it."

"If you insist."

"See ya later, Pops." Dash said before putting his hands in his pockets and walking over to meet Racket whose face was already red with anger.

"Pops, there's Speed!" Trixie pointed as Speed drove his car up to the makeshift Winner's Circle on the start/finish line. The two ran out as Speed undid his buckles and pulled his ascot back down on his neck, he took the sides of the cockpit and hoisted himself up so he could stand and he raised his fists in victory as the crowd cheered. Speed was presented the Grand Prix of Prague trophy as well as a bottle of champagne which he showered the crowd, as well as Trixie and Pops in.

But as the victorious team was getting their pictures taken, out in the hills, someone was watching a large house from afar through a pair of binoculars; he saw a large pale blue car drive up to the house as a man hopped out and scurried into the mansion, the man who was watching said, "Hit it." And a woman behind him pressed a button and the whole house exploded in flames! The man looked at the woman who was standing behind him, "Good job, Wendy, there's no way he survived an explosion like that."

"My pleasure, Mr. Idler. Who is next?"

"Your buddy Mr. Racket, for trying to help Clande."

"I'll enjoy doing that." Wendy answered as the two entered a silver car that was parked behind them and drove away. Not too long after, a yellow car roared up the hill, it was the Shooting Star driven by Racer X! Racer X hopped out and looked down at the exploded property with a grim expression, before hopping back in the Shooting Star and driving away.

Chapter 5: Night and Day

That night, as Pops made extra plans to transport the Mach 5 F1 and now the Mach 2 back home, Speed took Trixie out for a romantic night in Prague at a festival that was set up for the race that was built along turns three and four. "Speed, this festival is lovely." Trixie said, clinging to Speed's arm.

"It is, free admission to." Speed chuckled having gotten in free because he was the winner. Speed and Trixie had quite the night of shopping, trying out some of the local foods, playing games, and of course, signing autographs and taking many, many pictures with fans. They walked their way back over the bridge which was now packed with people, and walked along the riverside, Speed stopped for a moment, leaning on the railing looking out at the river that was covered in boats gleaming with bright lights.

"Everything alright, Speed?" Trixie asked, stopping with him to look over the water.

"Better than alright, Trixie. Today went almost exactly how I planned it, how I envisioned it, really." Speed answered.

"Oh? How come it's almost?"

"I didn't expect the spikes to come outta the Mach 2." Speed looked over and laughed.

"That was pretty crazy." Trixie joined in on the laughter.

"But, I don't know what to do with the Mach 2 now that it's back home. I don't wanna use it for parts and I don't want to put it in a museum."

"Why not wait to give it to Spritle? Update the Safety 2 system and let him start racing if that's what he wants to do." Trixie suggested.

"That's a groovy idea, he was pretty competent when he was mistaken for Prince Jam in the junior race last year in the car that Pops built for the Prince." Speed pondered.

"So yeah, let's let him test the waters in it when he's old enough."

"Hah, we sound like we're his parents or something, I'd have to ask Mom and Pops if they're on board." Speed chuckled.

"I suppose." Trixie said before starting to feel the weather kick in, "It's getting cold, Speed, let's go back to the hotel." She said clinging to Speed's arm for warmth.

"Hey, watch it my arm's still sore from today." Speed whined as they made their way back.

Late at night, Pops, Speed, and Trixie were at the airport with their bags. Pops talked to the ramp workers and made sure that the Mach 2 and Mach 5 F1 were strapped in properly before rejoining the group and boarding the plane. "Jeez, Pops. You think they'll get mad if you question their work like that?" Speed said.

"You can never be too careful." Pops said as they got into their row and took off back home. When they landed it was very early in the morning, and Sparky was waiting for them with the flatbed as they left the plane.

"Hey, Speed! Congratulations!" Sparky shook Speed's hand and gave him a pat on the back.

"Thanks, Sparky. I really thought I wasn't going to win, but thanks to some advice from Pops, I got the hang of it." Speed said as Sparky looked over his shoulder and saw not one, but two cars being unloaded.

"Wait, what? Why is the Mach 2 here?"

"Dash Whisker gave us the Mach 2, Pops said it represents the lowest point in Dash's career, so he didn't want it anymore." Speed explained.

"Well gee, Speed, the flatbed can only fit one car." Sparky took off his red hat and scratched his head.

Pops interjected, "Don't worry, Sparky, I rented a flatbed to transport both cars. I'll take the Mach 2, you take the Mach 5 F1. Let's get it done." Pops said. The four were able to successfully load the cars onto the trucks and they headed over to Pops' garage where they dropped them off. Sparky stayed in the garage to secure the cars and put them back in place as they picked up Trixie's yellow Mercedes, drove back to drop off the rental and then went to get Sparky and go home. By the time all of this was done, the sun was setting.

They finally drove up to the Racer household and opened the door, "Surprise!" was called out as Mom, Spritle, Chim Chim, and Speed's cousin Hank were there to surprise them.

"Whoa, what's all this?" Speed asked.

"You didn't think you could win a race like that and not get a party, did you Speedy?" Hank asked, wheeling himself up to Speed and shaking his hand.

"It's good to see you, Hank. You look much better." Speed complimented.

"So did you out in Prague, it's almost like you were trained by the best." Hank grinned.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. You were a tough teacher, though."

"If you're gonna build em' tough, you gotta teach em' tough sometimes." Hank shrugged as Mom Racer walked up to hug her son.

"Congratulations, Speed." she said.

"Thanks, mom."

"Did you take Trixie out?" she whispered.

"I did." Speed said.

"Good boy." She smiled as she released Speed and announced, "I baked you all a cake if you'd like to dig in!"

"Me first!" Spritle pushed as the others made their ways to the cake. But as Speed was about to go and join, Sparky grabbed his arm.

"Huh? What is it, Sparky?" Speed asked.

Sparky grinned, "Follow me, pal." Sparky led Speed to the garage and turned on the lights, "Taa-da!" Speed froze, and he gazed upon the two-seat white and blue beauty. "Speed Racer, I'd like to re-introduce you to the Mach 5!"

 _Speed and the Mach 5 may have been reunited, but Trick Idler and the Three Roses Club are still out there, smaller, and more dangerous than ever before! Can Racer X track them down before Trick can somehow get his revenge on someone else? But first, we answer the question: "Who is Hank Racer?" Stay Tuned and find out in the next episode of Speed Racer!_

[Outro Music]

Author's Note: I'm really enjoying writing Speed Racer Season 2 and I hope you're enjoying the read! But this is purely for fun, the writing I do seriously are my original stories which I'm re-doing and turning into a book as we speak! So, make sure you check out Southpaw-Comics on Deviantart, Wattpad, or Fictionpress if you enjoy superheroes want to see what's up! The Fictionpress one is way behind (by three years), so it gets updated every Sunday by five issues a week so don't miss out! We also have Southpaw-Comics on Facebook and Twitter if you wanna follow us on social media! If not, I hope you at least stick around for the rest of Speed Racer Season 2 and some stories I have planned that aren't Speed Racer related, but you'll see what that is when Season 2 is complete! Thanks for reading!

BONUS! Want to race in the Grand Prix of Prague as the Mach 5 F1 or the Mach 2? Need a reason to pick Forza 6 back up because it's been gathering dust? Well, if you bet your life Speed Racer, you can grab these paint schemes by searching the Forza design catalog and here's how you get them! (I'm also going to upload some pictures to my Forza Gallery if you want a wallpaper or something.)

-Mach 5 F1: Choose the McLaren M2B and type "JTeam45" in the Creator Name window.

\- Mach 2: Choose the Honda RA300 and type "JTeam45" in the Creator Name window.

-Wallpapers: Check Tango458 on Deviantart!


	5. The Ballad of Hank Racer

Speed Racer: The Ballad of Hank Racer

[Intro Music]

Chapter 1: Daydreamer

Pops stood atop a pit box at Thunderhead Raceway, the home-track of the Racer family as well as the one that Mifune Motors uses to test all their vehicles. Pops had a stoic expression on his face as he watched Speed round the banked portion of the track in the newest iteration of the Mach 5, which Sparky completed while the team was away during the Grand Prix of Prague. This track held some good and bad memories for Pops, it was the first track that Speed, Rex, and Hank won races at, but it was also the track where Rex crashed the Mach 1 and argued with Pops before running away, right there at the start/finish line. Right behind Speed was the Mach 2, recently acquired via Dash Whisker after the Grand Prix of Prague. The current driver of the Mach 2 being none-other-than Trixie, who was helping put the car through its paces after it was restored to its original state after Pops and Sparky removed the deployable spikes on the front of the car. Pops watched them diligently, but little did he know, so was someone else.

Atop the viewing tower sat Hank Racer, Speed's cousin. His crutches lay on his lap as he watched Speed go around and around in his new Mach 5. But as Hank watched, he began to daydream, the sight of the Mach 5 morphed into the vision of Hank's Mach 4 back on the day he first put the car in a big race. The afternoon sun glistened on the Mach 4's rust orange paint as he remembers going into the first turn and passing numerous cars. He didn't qualify well because he was young and didn't understand the full extent of this new car, but he was getting a feel for it and everyone could tell. By the time the race ended, Hank crossed the finish line in first, and he remembers victory circle where he and the Mach 4 were showered with confetti and champagne. Just remembering the feeling gave him chills as he snapped out of his daydream and saw the Mach 5 come around to the pits where Speed and Pops made adjustments as Sparky continued watching Trixie.

Hank grinned, but the grin quickly faded. He loved how exciting it was to make an upgrade to a car and test it out for the first time, but he was reminded of his career-ending crash during the testing for the Condor 500. Not only did it end his career, but it critically damaged the Mach 4 in the process. The Mach 4 was repaired since Pops didn't want Speed to race, but what wasn't repaired was Hank himself, he was still going through rigorous physical therapy to regain the use of his legs; it's been two and a half years and he's shown progress, but sometimes he still feels the need to use his wheelchair. The last time Hank was on a track was with Speed as an instructor and he'd say that he was a very good teacher, but teaching people how to race cars was not exactly what he had in mind as the sight of the Mach 4 under a tarp in his garage clouded his thoughts. A tear dripped down his face as a hand touched his shoulder, Hank jumped and looked behind him to see Racer X, his cousin who ran away from home years ago.

"Racer X? What are you doing here?" Hank questioned.

"I was going to ask you the same thing, Hank. Why're you up here, and not down there with Speed?"

"What do you care?" Racer X reached for the straps of his mask and Hank's eyes widened. Racer X took the mask off to reveal to Hank that he was Rex Racer! "Rex?!" Hank gasped as he looked at his long-lost cousin.

Chapter 2: Reminiscing

"That's right, Hank. Speed and the others already know, I'm surprised they didn't tell you."

"Rex…I thought you were dead." Hank remembers when he, in the Mach 3, and Rex, in the Shooting Star Formula raced. The Shooting Star Formula crashed with a what appeared to be Rex inside.

"Everyone did, Hank. I'm sorry, but it wasn't planned to happen that way." Rex sighed.

"Wasn't planned?!" Hank began to break out in tears, "I thought I watched you fall out of that car and vanish into a fireball! What exactly was supposed to happen?"

Rex looked down at his feet, "It was the beginning of my career as a spy for the CIB. As you may remember, there was a man in a mask and goggles from Kapetapek that arrived that day. Now you know, that was me. I had the remote control for the Shooting Star Formula in my hand and was driving the car from the grandstands until I was attacked, the sudden assault caused me to drop the controller and the car crashed. I never wanted it to happen, Racer X was never meant to be, and if all went to plan, I could have returned home; luckily for me, I was prepared for that to happen, unfortunately for everyone else…it wasn't so. That's why I never returned home." Rex explained.

"I-I don't know how to handle this." Hank trembled, trying to get a handle on the rage and grief that he was feeling.

"Do you remember your first rally with the Mach 4, Hank?" Rex asked.

"Yeah." Hank replied.

"Do you remember how mad you were at me?"

"You were in it?"

"Yeah. That was me posing as Prince Kabala." Rex revealed.

"Yeah, I remember that race. I blamed it all on Kabala and I was ready to show it."

"You did show it, kid. Trust me." Rex grinned, remembering both cars speeding along a rocky path. Rex was in Kabala's Blue #13 car and was leading the race until he looked in his rear-view mirror and saw the orange car with the white "M" on the hood. The Mach 4 inched ever so close to Rex as they went down the mountain pass that opened to a narrow road that ran alongside a lake. It wasn't long until Rex looked over to his right side to see the black #4 inside of a white circle, one of the unmistakable trademarks of all of Pops' racing cars. He then looked up to see Hank who was scowling at him.

"What did you get Rex into?" Hank yelled. Rex only gave a big, toothy smile back, but Hank wasn't taking that for an answer as he slammed into the side of the car! Rex fought the wheel, surprised by the sudden attack. "Well? Answer me or I'll smash you into the lake!" Hank shouted again, slamming the Mach 4 against Rex.

Rex quickly thought of something that Kabala would say, "I did nothing! He raced admirably for Kapetapek! His loss was regrettable, but he was honorable!"

"Unbelievable! What kind of honorable death is one that's completely unnecessary? He was family to me, and I don't even know why I lost my cousin!" Hank yelled trading paint with Rex again, but this time, he held the two cars together and inched closer to the lake. The fake grimace on Rex's face went away as he felt that he was about to go into the water below! He hit the brakes and backed off to save the Prince's car, letting Hank put the Mach 4 in the lead and eventually into victory lane. But Hank didn't even pull into the Winner's Circle, rather, he took his winnings and left not even bothering to grab the trophy. As he drove away, his mind couldn't stop racing, thinking about what exactly Rex got into that got him killed, he felt a tightness in his chest as he pulled over and climbed out of the Mach 4. He sat on the ground and leaned against the car, he breathed heavily and was forced to sit through the massive panic attack that had hit him.

It was then that a Willy's Jeep stopped behind him and Pops jumped out, "Hank? Hank, are you okay?" Pops knelt to check on his only nephew.

"Just a little panic attack, Pops. I'm sorry for just leaving, but my mind was in a haze." Hank apologized. Hank's memory became a little hazy after that, only remembering them towing the Mach 4 home since Pops was worried about Hank driving. Only one weekend after this was Hank's accident at the testing run for the Mach 4's performance upgrades.

Hank and Rex sat atop the spectator tower at Thunderhead, Rex hearing Hank's account of the rally as well as the stuff that happened after, he put a hand on Hank's shoulder, "I know this'll sound callous…" Rex started.

"Can't be worse than hearing that my career as a racer is over, so get on with the bad news." Hank replied.

"I think it was a little more than a sabotaged break line that caused the Mach 4 to crash that day."

"You think?"

"Yeah. What did you think of when you lost control of the car?"

"That day. The day you died." Hank admitted.

"Just as I thought." Rex said, hand on his chin. "You panicked and lost the car, didn't you?"

"You found me out, Rex. It's why I was so hard on Speed during my instructions."

"I see." Rex stood up and put his hand out. "Hank, let me drive you home. I want to see something."

"I dunno…" Hank contemplated.

"Please, Hank. I want to make the years of grief up to you."

Hank looked at Rex's hand and took it, getting up and supporting himself with his crutches, "Alright. I'm not sure what this is about, but I have not much else to lose."

Rex grinned as he walked Hank out, "I promise, you're going to like this." Rex said as he helped his cousin into the disability access SUV that Hank uses.

Chapter 3: Racer X's Offer

The SUV quietly drove into the driveway and Rex turned the car off as he and Hank both got out and entered Hank's house, which was filled with racing memorabilia. "Some things will never change in this family." Rex commented.

"Kinda hard with our last name." Hank chuckled. "So, what do you want to show me?"

"Is this to your garage?" Rex asked, hand already on a doorknob.

"Yeah." Hank confirmed, and Rex opened the door to the garage, flipping the lights on to reveal that the garage only held one other vehicle. There was the spot for the SUV, and a car under a tarp. The rest of the garage was extremely neat and well-kept, with everything properly sorted and straightened out. Rex grabbed the tarp and whisked it off, revealing the Mach 4!

"So, here it is. The only Mifune Motors car that didn't have red or blue as a prominent color. The black sheep of the entire Mach line." Rex said, looking upon the orange, white, and black car.

"It's also the first two-seater Pops ever built, and the first Grand Tourer since the Mach 1." Rex added.

"How'd you get Pops to go orange? He's so adamant on whites, reds, and blues."

"Yeah, he is. I think he likes white because it shows the body work better than some flashy color, but he said that it was my call. I said, 'rust orange because it's my favorite color', but he still argued for red with white details like on the Mach 1, but I stood my ground and got the orange and white like I wanted." Hank recalled, chuckling at the memory.

"Get in." Rex said, unlocking the car and opening the passenger door.

"How did you get my keys?"

"You had them sitting in a bowl like they meant nothing, but obviously this car means something, after all, you've told me." Rex held up the key with a white "M" stamped onto it.

"Alright." Hank conceded, he went over to the passenger's side and Rex helped him in, but he put Hank's crutches on the floor. "Hey, I need those, Rex!" Hank whined.

"You won't need em' right now." Rex answered as he opened the garage door and vaulted into the Mach 4's driver's seat. He turned the key and the Mach 4's engine started without any trouble. Rex revved it a couple of times and noticed, "You've been keeping up all of its maintenance, I see."

"I have. I'm just praying that I'll be able to drive this car competitively again." Hank sighed.

"Hmmm." Rex grinned as he put his mask back on and slammed the car into 1st and gunned it out of the garage and down the road back to Thunderhead. They arrived back in no time, the track's stadium lights lit up the main oval section, but Racer X was aiming for the road course in the middle where there wasn't much lighting, so the Mach 4's white headlights were the only thing between them and complete darkness.

"Rex, what're you doing?!" Hank yelled at Racer X.

"What's the matter? You sound afraid of going fast!" Racer X taunted, swinging the Mach 4 around another corner. The mid-mounted Twin-Turbo V8 engine whined behind their heads as Racer X came back around again, upshifts sending flames spitting out the car's pipes as they hit a straight.

"I'm not afraid of going fast!" Hank defended.

"Then what're you scared of, Hank? Racing? Adrenaline?" Racer X took the Mach 4 on two wheels going around a sharp turn.

Hank began getting flashbacks back to his crash, "I'm afraid of the danger! I don't wanna crash!"

Racer X pulled the Mach 4 even harder, before going along the final banked corner and back onto the front straight where the Mach 4 quickly made its way to 200 mph before settling back down into turn 1. "So, you're afraid of racing, is that it?" Racer X replied. "How'd you become Speed's teacher if you're afraid of racing?"

"Because I saw a lot of you in him. I was terrified to go into the Mach 5, but I felt an obligation. Now, my work is done. It's done, Rex!"

"We'll see how done you really are." Racer X gunned the Mach 4 down the back straight and right towards the wall of the next turn.

"Rex, what're you doing? Rex? REX?" Hank shouted before throwing himself to the side and punching the A Button, sending the Mach 4 soaring through the air, over the wall and catch fence! Racer X smirked as he pressed the B Button, deploying the belt tires as they landed to make sure that they stuck the landing and screeched to a halt in the empty parking lot. The engine still grumbled behind them as Racer X looked over to Hank, who was breathing heavily.

"So, you do have it in you." Racer X said.

"Get out of my car, Rex. Please." Hank demanded, still gasping for air.

Racer X got out of the driver's seat and walked to where he had left the Shooting Star, but before he was out of earshot, he looked back and commented, "Hank, I want to retrain you as a racer. I beg you to consider this offer and tell me what you decide the next time we cross paths. I've been watching your progress in physical rehabilitation, Hank. You're more healed than your mind is leading you to believe." Racer X then parted ways with Hank and left his cousin slouched over in the Mach 4's passenger's seat.

Hank looked up and caught the Shooting Star driving away, "Rex…what happened to you to cause you to change like this?" Hank then looked over to the steering wheel. "He only let me with two ways out. Drive myself home, or swallow my pride and wait for a few hours until someone finds me helplessly laying here." Hank pushed himself back upright, he then clambered over to the driver's side and sat there. He positioned one of his feet on the clutch, then placed the other on the gas. He put his hands on the steering wheel and looked out at the parking lot where they had landed. Hank breathed deeply and closed his eyes, paying attention to the grumbling behind him and the feeling of the brisk night air filling his lungs; he focused on his feet that were unmoving. "Rex said that I've made more progress than I know. But how could Rex of all people know what I don't?"

But then, as he continued to focus, Hank felt a tingling sensation in his ankles, "No. No way." Hank looked down to see his feet moving ever so slightly, although it took a lot of willpower to get them to move. Hank focused especially hard to move his right foot just enough to press on the gas, but before he knew it, the Mach 4 began to move! "I-I don't believe it." He breathed as he continued to move faster and faster, from 15 to 30 to 45 miles per hour back on the road home, using his handbrake as a substitute since he couldn't move his leg fast enough to change pedals. But sure enough, the orange Mach 4 was calmly on its way back home and before Hank knew it, he was triumphantly pulling the Mach 4 back into his garage. Hank put the car in park and, in his excitement got out of the car without aid from his crutches and was able to stand on his own, but not for long as his legs became wobbly, "Uh-oh." Hank said as he started to fall. He caught himself by holding on to the Mach 4 and sliding down it until he was just laying against it, sitting on the floor of his garage.

Hank huffed and pulled his crutches close to him, "Rex. I don't know if I can take your offer just yet, but this feeling definitely pushes me closer to saying yes." Hank smiled as he used his crutches to get back on his feet. He looked outside one more time before closing the garage and going to bed. But just out in the distance, Racer X was watching, he even watched Hank's drive home, and Racer X for the first time in a while felt pride because, at his core, he's still a Racer.

 _Could another Racer get back into the fray in the form of Hank and the Mach 4? What's next for Speed and where will Racer X turn up next? Find out in the next thrilling adventure of Speed Racer! [Outro Music]_

Authors Note: Thanks for sticking with me on another story, and I'm glad you're enjoying Speed Racer Season 2 so far! But, I do have more to offer in the form of my original stories that I dream to be made into real graphic novels one day. So, if you like superheroes and action of a more mature kind, check out Southpaw-Comics on Deviantart, Wattpad, and currently updating 5 issues a week every Sunday morning on Fiction Press (because the Fiction Press account is new and behind compared to the others). If you like those, we have Southpaw-Comics on Facebook and Twitter that you can follow for updates! Thanks for reading and Stay Tuned for more Speed Racer coming at you next week!


	6. The Secret Plan (Part 1)

Speed Racer: The Secret Plan (Part 1)

[Intro Music]

Chapter 1: Nairobi

The starting grid was alive with music and performances in the Kenyan city of Nairobi for this year's Trans-Africa Grand Prix. Speed, Trixie, Sparky, and Spritle hung out next to the new Mach 5 as Speed answered questions about the car and took pictures for the press and with fans. "I'm glad we actually made it this year, Speed." Sparky commented.

"Yeah, last year was a disaster. We couldn't get to the start in-time because customs gave us grief after news broke about the giant apes destroying tanks and the whole volcano thing." Speed closed his eyes and pressed his fingers to the bridge of his nose, "It gives me a headache just thinking about it. That was one of the most insane experiences of my life."

A voice then greeted them from behind, "Hey Mach 5 Team!" the group turned around to see Lovelace Goldminter walking up to them.

"Hiya, Lovelace!" Speed greeted back as they shook hands.

"Hey, Lovelace! This is your first Trans-Africa race, isn't it?" Trixie asked, shaking Lovelace's hand after Speed.

"That's right, and from what I hear, it's yours as well."

"Uh-huh. We kinda had a crazy thing happen last year and we couldn't make it." Speed said.

"Always an adventure with you guys." Lovelace chuckled.

"Yeah, adventure isn't usually too far behind when we're around." Sparky interjected.

Lovelace sized up the young mechanic, "I've seen you before, but I don't believe we met. I'm Lovelace."

"I'm Sparky, I'm the mechanic and co-builder of the Mach 5. I accompanied Sped during the Race Around the World." Sparky boasted.

"Well, you've done a very good job, Sparky." She complimented.

" _All drivers to your cars, mechanics make your final checks!"_ the announcer called.

"Well, that's my cue. Don't get lost, I really wanna race this time." Lovelace challenged before heading back to her car.

Speed, Trixie, and Sparky all strapped on their helmets and Sparky did his fifth check on the car before he hopped in, "Alright, Sparky, you take care of Speed, okay?" Trixie said.

"Don't worry, taking care of the Mach 5 is a hefty job, so it can't be too hard to make sure Speed comes out of it." Sparky answered confidently.

"Alright, me and Spritle won't be far behind with extra supplies in the helicopter when you need it." Trixie reminded.

"Got it, be safe, Trixie." Speed said, giving her a hug before getting in the driver's seat.

" _All teams, clear the grid! Drivers, start your engines!"_ the announcer called as the cars waited impatiently for the green flag to drop.

Chapter 2: Through Kenya and Behind the Scenes

Speed's hand lay firmly on the gear shifter as he waited for the green flag, a bead of sweat already dripping from his face. The other cars on the grid revved wildly in anticipation, the excitement mounted until the flagman dropped the green flag! Speed hit the gas, hitting the rev limit of the first gear, he pushed the clutch and slammed the Mach 5 into second gear as grand touring and rally cars from manufacturers and drivers based all around the globe took off on one of the most unique races of the season that would take them from Kenya and up to Morocco. But first, Speed and Sparky would have to battle their competitors in the heart of the African jungles.

"Don't be afraid to use the new saws if you have to, Speed. Pops made new diamond-tipped ones, so there's no way that they'd fail." Sparky notified.

"Got it." Speed said, his eyes focused on everything around him as the cars left the city and headed towards the more suburban and rural areas of Kenya, "Any ideas when we're gonna hit the jungle?"

Sparky looked at the map, "It'll definitely be nightfall by the time we hit the jungle, we'll be in the Central African Republic by the time we hit anything that's heavily wooded. It'll mostly be flat savannah, so you won't have to worry." Sparky informed.

Speed then pressed the A Button, launching the Mach 5 into the air as a car slid under them, Sparky yelped in surprise, holding his head. As they landed, Speed looked over at the car that tried to wreck them and commented, "There's always something to worry about in these races, Sparky." The car came at them again, but this time Speed lowered his speed and allowed the other car to over-shoot and slide into the dirt and sand, causing it to flip over onto its roof

"Will these guys ever learn?" Sparky scowled, embarrassed from getting scared as the Mach 5 carried on through Kenya and into Uganda.

Meanwhile, in a secluded shack in the country of Chad, strange things are afoot. The click-clacking of shoes against metallic floors echoed through an empty underground chamber, five men, three in suits and two soldiers walked up to a blast door that opened automatically before them, "How is the progress on the weapon?" one man asked.

"Our top engineers are almost finished with it, Mr. Diamond. It should be ready by the time the cars arrive to cross over." A second man answered.

"Good! This will be our first show of power, Mr. Silver. Once we destroy all the contenders of the Trans-African race with this weapon, the world will finally see us out in the open as a threat." The group walked up to a platform with a railing and Mr. Diamond looked in shock before laughing maniacally, "It's perfect! It's massive and it's perfect!" he continued to laugh as the others look on.

Mr. Silver leaned over to the other man in the suit, "Mr. Bronze, were you able to secure our contingency in the case of our unforeseen circumstance?"

Mr. Bronze looked over, "I did, I've planted headhunters in the race to take care of the Mach 5. Speed Racer is the only contender that has any chance at foiling our plans, so hopefully, the hunters love money enough to actually try and stop the kid for good."

"Brilliant, gentleman! Brilliant! Soon, we'll be the ultimate warlords of this continent! All will bow to us and we will become gods!" Mr. Diamond shouted, his hands raised in the air.

"What about Mr. Gold, sir?" Mr. Bronze asked.

"That doesn't concern either of you. Mr. Gold is laying low by my instruction. Now, let's let the mechanics finish the weapon and we'll go see if the headhunters you hired are any good." Mr. Diamond said as the three left the huge underground garage.

Chapter 3: Welcome to the Jungle

It has been a few hours since the race began, and the Mach 5 had been having a smooth race since starting in Kenya. Speed and Sparky had been through Uganda and South Sudan only having encountered a couple of dirty drivers along the way as they entered the underdeveloped areas of the Central African Republic where the thick of the jungle began to surround them as the paved roads became dirt and mud. "Alright, Sparky, hang on." Speed warned as he pressed the B Button to deploy the belt tires and the D Button, deploying the deflector shield so the two wouldn't get pelted with mud as they continued through the rough roads. "This feels much smoother than when I usually use the grip tires, did you and Pops add something, Sparky?" Speed asked.

"I did!" Sparky said proudly. "Now, when you activate the belt tires, the suspension slightly raises the Mach 5, pushes the wheels out a little bit, and softens for a smoother drive while also adding more grip! Groovy, huh?"

"I'll say. You and Pops really outdid yourselves." Speed complimented. "Hey, Sparky, can you radio Trix for an update?"

"I'm right on it." Sparky picked up the radio and called, "Mach 5 to Trixie, Mach 5 to Trixie, do you have an update for us?"

Trixie's voice crackled through the car, "You guys are currently in seventh place behind Lovelace and some others. But now you two have the complete advantage, so you should be catching them soon. They didn't have much of a lead to begin with, so I'm confident that you could keep going without any resistance." Trixie radioed back.

"I like the sound of that, let's punch it!" Speed grinned, pressing harder on the accelerator, going deeper and deeper into the jungle. Night quickly fell as darkness overtook the African landscape, Speed and Sparky still trudged along through the night as the red lights of the Mach 5's evening eye shone through the rugged terrain. "Oh! Look up there!" Speed pointed out. Sparky, who was napping, awoke to see three cars stuck in the mud ahead, including that of Lovelace Goldminter, and it looked like she was in trouble as the other drivers and navigators surrounded her car.

"Go away, you jerks!" she shouted.

"Leave it to girly over here to churn up all the mud and get us all stuck!" one driver said.

"Yeah, we should teach her a lesson and tear her car to pieces, so she can never stick her rich nose where it don't belong!" another said, taking out a wrench and raising it before a yellow-gloved hand grabbed his wrist. Speed took the wrench from the man and threw it behind him, before shoving him away from Lovelace's car.

"You shouldn't treat someone like that, who do you think you are?" Speed said.

"Well, what do you know, Speed Racer has come to save the day!" another driver shouted.

"I'm not saving the day, I'm just telling you guys that you need to race square is all!"

"Sure, you are, Speedy boy. But come on, it's four against one here what chance do you think you have of stopping us from getting her outta the race? Oh well, now we get the bonus of taking care of you, maybe we'll finally have a chance at winning for once!"

"You'd have a chance if you'd just race fair!" Speed argued.

"Easy for you to say when you have the best racing car in the world, kid! I'm sick of losing, I wanna win!"

"Then speed up and you won't have that problem!" Speed shouted.

"Smart kid!" one driver said as he threw his helmet at Speed! Speed dodged the helmet causing it to hit Lovelace's car, the driver ran up to him and tried to fight, but Speed was able to clock him with an uppercut! His navigator was about to hit Speed with a blow to the back, but Sparky jumped in by grabbing his arms, allowing Speed to elbow the navigator in the stomach. Sparky let go so Speed could grab the guy by the arm and flip him over his shoulder, the navigator hit the muddy ground with a fair bit of force. The team from the other car both went for Speed at the same time, but Sparky was able to tackle the other driver out of the way as Speed got behind the other navigator and chopped him on the neck, causing the navigator to pass out.

"Alright, now you guys drive fair or else that'll happen again!" Sparky boasted, grinning and flexing his arm as Speed went over to Lovelace's car.

"Are you alright, Lovelace?" he asked.

"I'm alright, but I didn't need saving!" she pouted, folding her arms and pointing her nose to the air.

Speed shrugged, "Alright, I was gonna help tow you outta the mud, but I guess you can handle it."

This made Lovelace snap out of it and scurry over to Speed, "Alright, alright, I need your help!" Speed and Sparky both had a chuckle as they got right to helping Lovelace out of the mud. Soon after, Sparky was untying the rope from Lovelace's car and he tossed it over to Speed who was leaning on the Mach 5, "Thanks you two. I don't know what I would've done without you." Lovelace sighed.

"Never be afraid to ask for help from us, okay?" Speed said, catching the rope and tossing it in the Mach 5's trunk. Lovelace nodded in agreeance as she noticed Sparky looking around her car.

"What's wrong, Sparky?" she asked.

Sparky scratched his head, "You're doing this rally without a navigator?" he asked.

"Oh yes. My daddy had so many revolutionary and new communications devices installed that it negates the need for someone to be there." Lovelace explained.

"But can you trust it? Don't you get lonely?" Sparky added.

"I can trust it, it's all state-of-the-art new! My daddy wouldn't equip my car with some technology that's set against me." She said and paused to think of Sparky's last question, "And what do you care if I'm lonely? Maybe I like being lonely, that's none of your business!"

"Alright, alright, you like being lonely!" Sparky defended.

"Sparky quit fooling around, we need to get back in the race!" Speed called out, already strapped into the Mach 5.

"I'm coming, Speed!" Sparky said, running back to the Mach 5 and vaulting himself into the passenger seat.

"We'll see you at the finish line, Lovelace! If you get into trouble, don't be afraid to ask for help!" Speed repeated before reactivating the Mach 5's deflector and evening eye to continue through the jungle.

"I will, Speed. I will." Lovelace sighed before climbing back into her car and driving along the same path as the Mach 5.

 _The drivers now approach Chad, where the secret organization waits to strike! Who are Mr. Diamond, Gold, Silver, and Bronze? What is "the weapon"? Will the headhunters reach Speed and put him out of the race permanently? Stay tuned for the next exciting episode of, Speed Racer!_

[Outro Music]


	7. The Secret Plan (Part 2)

Speed Racer: The Secret Plan (Part 2)

[Intro Music]

Chapter 4: Preparations

As night turned to day, Speed and Sparky continued through the Central African Republic and into Chad, but unbeknownst to them, there was a plot brewing underneath the unassuming country. "The cars have crossed the border, sir!" a henchman informed as Mr. Diamond stood on the balcony looking at his secret weapon.

"Good, make the final preparations, we deploy this afternoon!" he commanded as the henchman ran back down. Mr. Diamond chuckled to himself as Mr. Silver and Mr. Bronze walked in and stood next to him.

"So, this is really it, huh?" Mr. Bronze commented.

"Indeed, this is 'it', Mr. Bronze. It's time we took Africa by force and made this entire continent better for everyone. No more warlords or weak dictators, only us; our culture, and our rules." Mr. Diamond grinned, his teeth glistening under the lights.

"How was your sweep for any CIB listeners, Mr. Bronze?" Mr. Silver asked.

"No one knows about us, even Mr. Gold is clear of any infiltrators since I checked on him as well."

"Very good, Mr. Bronze. We don't need the Central Intelligence Bureau knowing about what is about to commence."

Just then the lead henchman walked up to them, "Its ready, sirs. We can deploy whenever you need us to."

"Soon, soon we'll get our due! Soon we'll take Africa, and then maybe…just maybe, we'll take over the world!" Mr. Diamond laughed maniacally, unable to contain his excitement.

Meanwhile, Speed and Sparky were making up a lot of ground as they trekked along the savannah. "…and that's the news, here's special guest commentator Left Roardon with an update on the Trans-African Grand Prix."

"Well, it's definitely been an exciting one here even from just the booth, some of the pack has just entered Chad, but most of the cars were slowed down by the bad weather and muddy terrain in the Central African Republic, but not the fan favorite Mach 5, which was able to traverse the terrain with relative ease. Lovelace Goldminter wasn't too far behind, although she was also bogged down by the mud and has lost ground since."

"Do you see her being a valid contender by the end of this race, Left?"

"I don't know, she needs to shake off all of that mud and junk from her car if she wants to gain any ground, but she hasn't really stopped for anything besides fuel, I think Speed has this race on lockdown."

"Thank you, Left, enjoy the race. That'll be your mid-race update, now back to our scheduled programming." Sparky turned the radio off.

"It looks like we have this one in the bag, Speed." Sparky smiled.

"Don't be too sure yet, Sparky."

"Huh? Why not, Speed?"

"Just call it a feeling. That scuffle back there was nothing, I feel like there's going to be more to come." Speed answered gloomily.

"Aw, come on, Speed. Don't sound so glum." Sparky said.

"I'm not, look, they're here right on cue." Speed pressed the D Button to deploy the deflector shield as two pick-up trucks with turrets mounted on the beds flanked the Mach 5 and began to shoot at the canopy.

"What? Are you serious?" Sparky shouted as bullets bounced off the car.

"It's alright, I've got a plan." Speed huffed as he stood on the brake and swung the Mach 5 to the right. The car's three large front prongs slammed into one of the ratty old trucks, sending it careening off path, and into a dirt pile. Speed swung the Mach 5 back around, hitting the rear of the other truck with the front of the Mach 5, causing the other truck to spin and flip over and over. Speed then got back on course and kept racing, "Someone is sending these guys after us…but who?" Speed muttered.

"I dunno, Speed. But I feel like I'm in a movie right now or somethin'." Sparky commented.

In the secret base, Mr. Silver looked over and said, "Send in the drone team, the Mach 5 can't make it outta Chad, or our plan gets put in jeopardy!"

"You got it, boss." The henchman said, pressing a button that lit up.

Speed and Sparky continued on as three red and silver cars appeared behind them, Sparky looked, "Huh? Who are those guys? I don't recognize em' from the start."

"I don't either, Sparky. We'd better watch out because they might be with those headhunters." Speed replied. The red and silver cars then got closer to the rear of the Mach 5 and suddenly, the noses of the cars went flat like ramps and massive circular saws deployed and began spinning in the middle of the cars! "Oh!" Speed and Sparky exclaimed as Speed pressed the A Button, allowing the two cars to pass under him as the Mach 5 leaped into the air, landing behind the cars, Speed pressed the C Button, taking out the new and improved cutter blades.

"What're you gonna do, Speed?" Sparky said.

"Where's Trixie when you need her?" Speed sighed, knowing Trixie and Spritle were refueling the helicopter and wouldn't be there for some time. He pulled closer to the cars and hit one in the rear, shredding the tires, rims, and rear axle. Speed did the same with the other one, and then there was the final headhunter car that he needed to take down, he made his approach, but to his surprise, the car spun around to face the Mach 5!

Sparky was shaking in his chair, "Speed, please don't fight this thing! I've never seen a circular saw joust before, but I feel like it's not going to end well for either of us." Just then, the other car changed gear into drive and ran at the Mach 5! Speed was taken by surprise as he pressed the A Button to evade; the Mach 5 mostly made it over the car, but the headhunters saw was so large that it was able to tear the Mach 5's right rear wheel completely off and shred it in two! But as the Mach 5 landed, Speed didn't stop, instead, he turned around on three-wheels! "Speed, what're you doing?!" Sparky screamed.

"I've seen Racer X do this before, I don't see why I can't do it."

"Was Racer X fighting cars with saws? No! No, he wasn't!" Sparky covered his eyes as Speed rushed the headhunter, with the cutter blades still deployed. But just as Speed got close, he let the Mach 5 fall on its missing wheel, causing it to swing to the right, nearly dodging the big saw and allowing speed to cut the other car in half from front to back! The Mach 5 ground to a halt.

Speed gave a big sigh and got out of the Mach 5 to check on the headhunter car, "Sparky, get the spare out and change it, I have to see what was going on with that car!" Sparky gasped for air and gave Speed and thumbs up as Speed ran over to the headhunter car before stopping dead in his tracks, "It was a robot!" Speed exclaimed, looking at the ruined pile of technology in front of him. Just then, Speed heard a helicopter and looked up to see Trixie, who quickly descended to make sure that everyone was okay.

"Speed! Sparky! Are you guys okay?" Trixie called out as she got down from the helicopter. Speed nodded his head and Sparky managed to give another thumb up as he grabbed the spare wheel from the underside of the car to change it. "Well, how about you boys rest up after the wheel is changed and we'll have lunch? I packed a big picnic basket and Spritle hasn't eaten all of it." She winked.

"I haven't eaten all of it **yet**." Spritle corrected and the friends laughed as Mr. Diamond, Silver, and Bronze watched through their screen.

"Deploy the weapon." Mr. Diamond seethed as a door to the base opened to nothing but sand. The weapon screamed and roared as it burrowed itself in the sand and went along its projected path.

Chapter 5: Destroy the Weapon

The team watched some other drivers go by as they chowed down on their sandwiches, salads, and snacks in the middle of the savannah. "How do you guys do that all the time?" Sparky asked.

"What do you mean, Sparky?" Speed asked, taking a bite from his sub.

"I mean, that." Sparky motioned over to the wreckage of the drone car.

"Oh. I dunno, it just kinda happens. I'm not gonna lie to you, Sparky, it's made me a little paranoid like Pops sometimes is." Speed answered.

"Sometimes?" Spritle countered.

"Touché." Speed chuckled.

"It's just that, that had me really scared for a moment, Speed." Sparky continued.

"I know, Sparky. You've gotta get used to it if you're going to ask to be my navigator all the time, though. That kind of danger comes with the position after you've done all Trixie and I have. Everyone is gunning for us nowadays." Speed explained.

"Yeah, I guess so. I really underestimated the job." Sparky sighed.

"Don't be discouraged, I know you can be a good navigator. Maybe not as good as me, but you'll get used to it." Trixie smiled.

The radio then crackled, startling the group, "Breaking news concerning the Trans-Africa Grand Prix. To all drivers, navigators, and spotters alike, be cautious, massive sinkholes are beginning to appear in the savannahs and the desert. Be vigilant, some cars have already fallen into Mother Nature's clutches."

"We'd better get going before the sinkholes get worse." Speed said.

"Alright, let's move. Thanks for the lunch, Trixie." Sparky said.

"Yeah, thanks, Trixie! Keep us informed of the situation and be careful!" Speed waved, getting strapped into the Mach 5.

"Alright, you guys be especially careful." Trixie waved back as the Mach 5 sped away.

"I worry about my brother sometimes." Spritle said, watching Speed and Sparky disappear in the distance.

Speed drove the Mach 5 as hard as he could through the other countries without fail, from Cameroon and Nigeria to Mali and Mauritania, the two took few breaks, continuing to pass drivers, especially as the savannah turned into desert. "Alright, Speed. We've managed to avoid all the sinkholes. There isn't much between us and the finish-line in Casablanca, just the Western Sahara." Sparky said.

"ETA?" Speed asked.

Sparky looked at the map and calculated the time in his head, "Well, accounting for rest stops, it should be about 20 hours." He said.

"20 hours in the desert…great." Speed sighed.

"Don't worry, we'll be in Morocco in no time! We're sixth place, so we should be catching the leaders very soon, especially with the upgraded grip tires." Sparky said confidently as they raced off into the night, and when day broke, with only 10 hours left to go, Trixie's voice came through the speakers.

"Speed, turn back! We can't continue this race!"

Speed grabbed the radio, "Why? What on Earth is happening?"

"It's hard to say, Speed, but people are saying that there's a monster right behind you!"

"Huh?" Speed looked behind him as the ground began to shake wildly. The sand rose behind them as a silver metallic monstrosity burrowed through the ground and landed on the sand!

" **What is that?!"** Sparky shouted. The machine had eight huge wheels and it had a head that looked like a dinosaur with glowing red eyes and extremely sharp teeth! It raised its head and gave a mechanical roar as it snorted flames and charged the field!

"It's some kind of weapon, I don't know exactly what to say about it. It's like a mashup of multiple things that I've come across before!" Speed examined.

Mr. Diamond grinned and chuckled to himself, "Bye bye, racers." The monstrosity rolled up on the cars that were a little slow and opened its mouth, effortlessly scooping the cars up in and crunching them with his teeth! Some drivers stopped and ran away as the thing ate their cars and breathed fire from its nostrils!

"I dunno if we can fight this one, Speed!" Sparky said.

"I don't know if we can outrun it, either!" Speed replied as the machine gave another excited roar.

"Look!" Sparky pointed at fighter jets in the sky, the jets shot missiles and dropped bombs on the desert dragon and the missiles and bombs did nothing to slow it down as it snorted fire and roared again. One jet was about to bomb the thing and flew low, but the dragon sprouted an arm, grabbing the plane in its pincer! The dragon looked at it with its red glowing eyes before eating the plane, too! Burning jet fuel leaked from the dragon's mouth as it continued to rumble down the field, consuming everything in its path!

"I'm invincible!" Mr. Diamond shouted with glee as he sprung up from his chair and began to laugh. "Deploy the dummy tanks to show the dragon's power!"

Tanks arose from platforms in the sand further away, so no one would notice. The dummy tanks rolled up and began to shoot shells at the dragon. The Mach 5 sped passed the tanks as their tan shells bounced off of it; the dragon roared and spat fire at the dummy tanks, melting them both before gobbling them up to fuel its destructive rampage. "Oh! It's unstoppable!" Speed shouted.

"Speed, you need to get out of the Mach 5! Save yourselves!" Trixie called.

"No, I'm not going to surrender the Mach 5, Trixie! There's no way!" Speed shouted back before stopping the Mach 5. Sparky, go quick, get somewhere safe!"

"But Speed…"

"No, I need you with me 100% on this. Save yourself, I'll find a way to stop the dragon!"

"Alright, Speed. But be careful." Sparky said, getting out of the Mach 5.

"Trixie, Sparky is gonna need a pickup, I'll take care of this thing." Speed informed before switching off the radio. He whipped the Mach 5 around to face the dragon that snorted fire into the air haphazardly as it had devoured the entire field except for Speed and Lovelace, who sped passed in the opposite direction as fast as she could, seemingly having little to no trouble with the thing.

Lovelace looked behind her and thought aloud, "Speed Racer, I hope you know what you're doing." Before continuing to Casablanca. Speed pressed the B Button, and the new belt tires sprouted over the tires and then the car lifted slightly and slightly pushed the wheels outward for wider grip on tough surfaces, this helped immensely with the desert sand. He followed by pressing the D Button to shield him from any shrapnel of the cars or jets and tanks that the dragon had eaten.

"Alright, let's test this." Speed brought out the new diamond-tipped cutter blades as he got closer and closer, feeling the heat from all the burning fuel inside of the dragon. The dragon brought its pincer down to grab the Mach 5, but Speed faked it out by hitting the A Button and colliding blade-first with the arm, cutting the arm clean off! But Speed knew that was the easy part since it was the spindly part of the dragon that had to retract back into the body every time it was attacked by military-grade equipment. The Mach 5 landed and turned around, Speed was testing the dragon as if he was sensing that it has something to hide. The aimed the blades at one of the eight huge wheels and hit the dragon, knocking one of the wheels clean off! "Oh!" Speed exclaimed, getting a look under the dragon. The huge wheels were fake things to make the dragon seem imposing, but really it was being moved by a series of large rollers on the underside of it, which is how it moved so smoothly. Speed cautiously maneuvered the Mach 5 under the dragon and hit one of the rollers with the cutter blade, the blade cut the metal sphere creating a significant gash. But just then, as if it was reacting to pain, the dragon jumped extremely high into the air and burrowed itself underground.

Speed turned on the radio, "Trixie, Sparky, I know how the dragon works! It uses a series of rollers under it, the wheels are fakes!"

"But how're you gonna beat it, Speed?" Trixie asked.

"I have to gunk up its systems somehow. The machinery needs to become clogged with something, but I don't know how I'm going to do that yet!" Speed called as he followed the dragon passed the border of West Sahara and Morocco until they reached Marrakesh, where the dragon emerged from the ground, head held high, spitting fire everywhere as it whipped his head around and began to pick up cars with its remaining arm! "Here goes!" Speed shouted, pressing the A Button, and using the same maneuver he used earlier, cutting off the Dragon's other arm! Speed turned around and muttered, "Your back seems to be a weak spot. But not as bad as your belly." Speed pressed the C Button and ran the Mach 5 under the dragon once again. He then pressed A and launched himself through the belly of the beast! The dragon roared and screamed in anger as it moved at full speed through Marrakesh, smashing and eating everything possible. When inside, Speed saw the huge workings inside the machine, it wasn't the most advanced thing he'd ever seen, but since he sought to jam up the beast, he grabbed his gun from the glove compartment and meant to shove the gun in a cog somewhere, but the machinery was so large and powerful, that the gun would be crushed, and the dragon would be back up again. He had to find another way. Speed put his gun back in the car, and took a deep breath, "I just got this car, don't break this car." He said to himself as he went over his plan in his head.

"How could this happen?" Mr. Diamond slammed his fist on the table.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Diamond, we weren't prepared for this level of failure."

"Well, boys. You know what we think about second chances." Mr. Diamond hissed, the henchmen tensed up. "You all deserve them." The henchmen then loosened their shoulders until Mr. Diamond pulled out a machine gun! "You all deserve them in another life." He unloaded on the henchmen and left the room.

"Was that necessary, Diamond?" Silver asked.

"Who cares? Blow the place up, we're outta here." Mr. Diamond growled as the underground base soon exploded and Diamond, Silver, and Bronze got away to scheme again.

Meanwhile, Speed was standing in front of a pile of munitions, the dragon's mechanical digestive system spat out shells, bullets, and bombs so they wouldn't go into the fueler because the dragon would explode. Speed snapped his fingers and gathered all of the munitions he could carry and began loading them in the slot that was after the munitions dump, surpassing the sensors manually. As the explosives made their way to the fueling station, Speed sprinted back into the Mach 5 and pressed the F Button, activating the underwater "Frogger" mode so the shield would still protect him, but he would also be able to breathe in the smoke and hopefully, the periscope would help him see. Outside of the stadium where the drivers of the Trans-Africa GP would take a final drive around a banked turn and cross the line, the dragon emerged from the ground and its main body exploded, smoke billowing from every crack. The machine opened its mouth and vomited fire and molten metal as it's speakers allowed it one last dying scream before the Mach 5 blasted out of the dragon's maw and into the stadium, around the final banked corner and across the finish line! But that last bit of motivation is all Speed had left as the Mach 5 stopped abruptly after finishing, Speed opened the door and clambered out, rolling onto his back, so he could breathe some fresh air.

The helicopter landed and Sparky and Spritle ran out, "Speed, talk to us, buddy." Sparky shook his friend.

Speed opened his eyes and asked, "Did I win?"

Sparky and Trixie helped him to his feet, "Lovelace Goldminter won the race, Speed. But since the other drivers in front of you bailed out, you finished in second!" Trixie informed.

"Lovelace?" Speed then stood under his own power, looking for Lovelace, "Where is she?" he asked.

"I don't know. I think she was escorted away because of that machine. She didn't even stay to receive her trophy, she just crossed the line and left from what I've heard." Trixie answered.

Speed looked on and thought to himself, "What has been going on around here? It seems like everyone has had it out for me, but why? I've gotta talk to Rex. I bet he'll have the answers I'm looking for."

 _Speed and the gang have another mystery on their hands and must try as hard as they can to find Racer X for some answers as to who is targeting them. But their hunt might be futile because no one knows where Racer X went after Hank saw him last. There are many answers to be found on the upcoming episodes of, Speed Racer!_

[Outro Music]

Authors note: I had a ton of fun with this one, guys! I wanted to do something a little crazier that was still in the vein of Speed Racer and I think it turned out pretty good and I can't wait to do more! As always, I plug my usual stuff, my main passion as far as writing is concerned is comics and superheroes since I can get a little more adult with those stories and I have more than a few original series up on Deviantart, Wattpad, and Fiction Press. The main series I work on is called SDU: Special Defense Unit, but take note, that the Fiction Press version is behind by 25 issues, but I'll be updating those each week (starting again this morning actually). Currently, I'm working on a novel of that series right now, so if you wanna check those early drafts of SDU, go to any of the sites I just mentioned and search for the user: Southpaw-Comics. We also have Facebook and Twitter pages if you wanna get updates and follow on there. But if not, if you just want more Speed Racer, stay tuned here because there's plenty more to come!


	8. Grudge Match

Speed Racer: Grudge Match

[Intro Music]

Chapter 1: Déjà vu

Almost a month after his adventure in the Trans-African Grand Prix, Speed and Trixie were having a calm drive along the ocean coast; waves crashed into the rocks on the shore below as the Mach 5 quietly drove by. "Isn't this nice for once, Speed? No danger to ruin our day together." Trixie looked out of the Mach 5 at the ocean.

"Uh-huh, I have to admit, I've enjoyed my time off until the next big race." Speed agreed.

"Where is the next race again?"

"Dubai, more specifically Yas Island for the '12 Hours of Yas Island'." It'll be on their new circuit, supposedly it's gonna be the most state-of-the-art racing track in the world." Speed explained.

"Do you think Kim will be there?"

"I know for sure he is, it'll be right by Flathill Country and since he's the prince, he can't miss a race like that because it's too important."

Trixie's face became inquisitive as she stared into the rearview mirror and saw a bright red car approaching, "Hey, that car looks familiar."

"Huh?" Speed looked, and his eyes widened, "Oh! It's Zoomer Slick! I wonder what he's up to." Speed pulled the Mach 5 over and Zoomer pulled alongside and hopped out of his red #2.

"Speed, I challenge you to a one on one!" he shouted, pointing at Speed.

Speed got out of the Mach 5 to face him, "Oh yeah? Three times wasn't enough, now you wanna race again?"

"Don't insult me, Speed! I know I can beat you!"

"Listen, Slick; I've pulled you out of a volcano before, saved your life and in return, you try to crash me and Racer X out of the very next race. Even a few months ago, you shot at us! What's this all about? What's with the anger?"

"I'm sick of being humiliated by you and the Mach 5! Then I came to an epiphany after this year's No Limit World Race and after watching the Grand Prix of Prague…you don't really know how to race, you only know how to drive fast, the car does all the work for you!"

"What do you mean?" Speed growled, insulted by the accusation.

"Think of it, Speed. Every time we race, every time someone's faster than you…what happens? You press some buttons in your car that let you win, they practically hand you the victories. Heh, the only one with the real skill around there is Pops and Sparky because one built the best engine in the world and the other is responsible for fixing your mistakes!"

Speed balled his hand into a fist, "You're gonna regret saying those things about me." He threatened.

"Oh yeah?"

"Yeah."

"Then accept my challenge. Thunderhead's road coarse tonight… **no** powers. I wanna see if you have any real skill or if you're playing around with a toy."

"I accept the challenge, I'll see you there, Slick."

"I'll see you at midnight, champ." Slick grinned before jumping back in his car and speeding away.

Speed sat back down in the red leather seats of the Mach 5, "That was very brave of you, Speed." Trixie comforted, seeing how crushed Speed's ego was.

Speed let out a deep sigh, "I don't feel like a champion of anything right now."

"Speed, don't let his words get to you! Zoomer Slick was always a bully, and you're standing up to him!"

"But he's right about me, I do rely too much on the Mach 5's powers. So much so that I can actually see where he's coming from." Speed thought for a moment, he looked at Trixie, "Trix, I have to see Hank. I need some serious advice."

"That's alright Speed, I understand."

"Thanks, Trixie. I don't know what I'd do without you." Speed said. As he went to grab the stick to shift back into first, Trixie put her hand over his, Speed smiled as he went to take her home.

Chapter 2: The Coach Weighs In

A half-hour later, Speed pulled up to Hank's house, surprised to see Hank not only standing on his own but also washing the Mach 4. "Hank?" Speed said, leaping out of the Mach 5, "Why's your chair all the way over on the lawn? Do you need your crutches?"

Hank laughed, "No, Speed. No, I can manage."

"I don't understand."

Hank continued to wax the Mach 4's glistening orange body, "I got a visit from Rex." He informed.

"Rex was here?" Speed gasped.

"Yes, sir. He-ah, he gave me quite the eye-opening drive down at Thunderhead. So eye-opening that it turned out that I wasn't as crippled as I thought, it was all, or mostly in my mind." Hank scratched the back of his head, trying to simplify what had occurred.

"That had to have been something, should I be worried?"

"No, Speed, no. I've been making massive leaps in my physical rehabilitation, I can even drive normally again, I can't race yet, unfortunately."

"Race again? Now you're sounding wacky."

"I miss it, Speed. I miss racing more than anything, I miss winning, I miss it all. It may sound wacky to you after everything you've seen me go through, but for me…it's a comeback." Hank said with a sparkle in his eye and a look of focus and passion like he hadn't had in years before he eased up and relaxed, "What'd you come down here for? It must be serious if you're coming at this odd time." Hank said.

"I have a grudge match tonight." Speed said.

Hank stopped and put his stuff down, "Against who?"

"Zoomer Slick challenged me, said that I'm nothing without the Mach 5's powers, said I'm only good at going fast and no good at actual racing. So, he challenged me to a race at midnight tonight at Thunderhead on the road course."

Hank thought for a moment and stroked his chin, "Hmm, he has one point and that's how you rely on the Mach 5's abilities too much."

"I know, and that's why I came." Speed said, looking over at the Mach 4

Hank noticed and answered, "There's no way you're using my car to settle your little contest." He said.

"Come on! Having less power would prove my point even more that I'm better than him!"

Hank scoffed, "The Mach 4 isn't that much slower, you know! It could still easily beat him."

"Then let me prove it!"

"No!"

"Why not?"

"Because I know you're going to smash it up, that's why! I rarely scratched this baby and the Mach 5 always ends up on fire or waterlogged by the time the race is over or something!"

"Aww, come on, Hank!"

"I won't do it, Speed. You're going to have to resist the urge to push any of those seven buttons on that steering column. More than anything, as your teacher, you're telling me, as my student that you don't believe in yourself and that just won't do. Don't think I don't know why you really wanted to drive the Mach 4, it's not because of the power difference, it's because it only has four buttons and two of them don't even work. You don't trust yourself not to cheat and that's not okay, that makes you just like Slick; no filter, impatient, that's not the mark of a great driver and impatience is not a trait you've shown, especially last season." Hank looked at the sun as it was almost gone from the horizon, "You'd better get home and get ready, Speed. It's getting late."

Speed slouched his shoulders, "Alright, Hank. Sorry for bothering you, I'm glad to hear that you're walking again."

Hank rolled his eyes, "You're better than that pouting bull, Speed. You're a champion! Not just a champion, but a World Champion! Race him like one!" Hank scolded.

Speed opened the Mach 5's door, "I will, Hank. I'll beat him because if I don't, there goes my entire reputation as a racer." Speed then drove off home to gather his things.

Hank looked on and thought to himself, _"You can do it Speed. I know you can, and I'm gonna be there to see it."_ Once the Mach 5 was out of ear-shot, Hank clambered into the Mach 4 and headed to Thunderhead to watch the grudge match between the two rivals.

Chapter 3: The Race of His Career

Night was falling as Zoomer Slick, followed by two of his friends, drove into Thunderhead and stopped in the pits. Slick put his car into park, turned it off and hopped out, "Alright guys, help me out here." He commanded as he opened his car, revealing his mid-mounted Ferrari V12. "This is it, my secret to beating Speed and whatever the Mach 5's got under the hood." Slick boasted.

"It definitely gave him a run in last year's races." One of his friends said.

"That wasn't this, that engine was before he got Pop's new engine was installed, now rumor has it that he has an even better engine than the one before now. Get with the times, Torque." Slick commented as Torque got fuel and a set of new tires from the back of his pickup along with a jack. The two began working on the car.

Just then Zoomer's other friend got out of her flat pink on metallic pink tuner car, "You're not gonna lose, though…are ya, Slick?" she asked, leaning on her door.

"I won't lose. This is the most important race of my career, Vroom Vroom." Slick answered as he wrenched away.

"Okay, just saying. He's going to be angry about that time you tried to shoot him and his girlfriend, so…"

"I get it, Yuon! Jeez." Slick snapped.

"Whoa, Zoomer. Don't talk to me like that because if you lose, you don't get the girl." She giggled and winked.

"Just…let me work, please." Slick sighed.

Torque then saw lights at the entrance of the track, "I think that's him and his crew, Zoomer."

Slick shot up. "You bet it is." He grinned as the Mach 5's distinct horn rang out through the nearly empty arena on this midnight run.

Chapter 4: Flexing

The Mach 5 drove down the pits right up next to Slick's #2, with Trixie and Sparky following close behind in Trixie's yellow Mercedes. Hank, having gotten there earlier, made his way up to the spectator booth where, to his surprise, Racer X was also watching, "So, you came to watch too, huh?" Hank asked.

"I have some time off of my investigation, and I was in the neighborhood as I am more and more it seems." Rex smiled, looking down at the track.

"So, you know what's going on?"

"No, but I can guess. Slick is ashamed of stooping as low as he did and wants to prove he's better than Speed in a fair and square race."

"Hah, pretty much. Zoomer accused Speed of being a bad driver for using the Mach 5's abilities so often."

"Of course he did, he knows what buttons to press with Speed and that's to challenge his honor as a racer." Rex chuckled. "How're your legs?"

"Much better as you can see. Coulda had my eyes opened without being launched over a wall." Hank criticized.

Rex thought a moment, "True, but my methods were never normal."

"Yeah." Hank sighed, before noticing Speed getting out of his car and approaching Slick, "Look, something's happening!" he pointed as the Racer cousin's attentions were pulled over to the pits.

"What is it, Racer?" Slick asked.

"I was guessing that you'd like to announce the rules you set so we're all refreshed." Speed grinned, resting his hands on his hips.

"Right." Zoomer quickly looked over to Yuon, hoping that he was impressing her, he cleared his voice, "Alright, Racer. We all know you have powers in the Mach 5, I want your mechanic buddy to shut em' down so you have no chance of saving yourself."

Speed looked over to Sparky and nodded, Sparky placed a flat key into the Mach 5 and held the "G" button until multiple clicking noises sounded, turning off the abilities, Speed looked back over, "Done." He folded his arms.

"Good, gotta make sure you're not a dirty racer." Slick chuckled aloud, with only Torque echoing his cockiness, "Alright, so lemme tell you the rules. We're gonna start rolling side-by-side at 60 miles per hour, once we cross the start/finish, we race the Thunderhead road course for 30 laps, that's gonna be around an hour, just you and me, Speedy." Zoomer grinned.

Speed raised an eyebrow, "That's it? Well, I have a stipulation of my own." He announced.

"Oh yeah?" Zoomer's confident grin turned to a scowl, knowing exactly what Speed was going to say.

"No over-aggressive contact can be used at any point. Contact that is allowed is bumping or moving one or the other out of the way respectfully, but not smashing them off of the track deliberately so you can have 29 victory laps."

"Fine. Those stipulations seem fair, let's do this, Racer. Let's expose you for the rookie-level driver that you really are." Slick said, he looked at Yuon, "Can I get anything for good luck?" he winked, Yuon laughed at him and waggled her finger, signaling that he wasn't allowed to make requests like that.

Speed went over to the Mach 5 and strapped in, Sparky leaned over and whispered, "I turned off everything except for the canopy, I don't trust him to not try and flip you over." Speed looked over and nodded, Sparky returned and sat atop the Mercedes.

"Good luck, Speed." Trixie kissed Speed on the cheek, "Go get em'." She cheered as she too, returned to the Mercedes to grab the green, white and checkered flags that she and Speed took from the Racer household.

Yuon hopped off her car and shouted, "I'm bored here! Start your engines!" both of the V12's exploded to life, the deafening roar of the naturally aspirated engines echoed in the night. Zoomer looked over to Speed and honked his horn, signaling that they were going to do their one pace lap. The cars went around the track and gradually gained speed until they reached 60, Trixie ran over the small front lawn with the flags and grabbed the green one.

"I'll show them all." Zoomer huffed.

 _"I have to prove to myself that I can do this."_ Speed thought as the two cars came around the high banked, high-speed turn of Thunderhead. Torque went over to his truck and grabbed a tripod and a camera to film the event taking place. As Trixie held the flag out, the two cars started to accelerate, and as they got closer, Trixie waved the green flag!

Chapter 5: Grudge Race

The #2 and the #5 blasted passed Trixie at speeds of 120mph at the line, surprisingly, Zoomer Slick took first as the cars dove left onto the flat road as they entered Thunderhead's road course. Speed slotted in behind Slick and followed closely behind as they completed a series of left and right turns, but as the road course gave way to the high banked turns, as they entered it, Speed followed close behind until he pulled out from behind Slick, the speed mixed with the low-grip banking, caused the air between the two cars to force Zoomer's car to wobble, allowing Speed to dive low and make an easy pass, leading the first lap.

"Go Speed go!" Trixie cheered as the two went by. After waving the green, she returned to the Mercedes with Sparky to watch until the final lap. Sparky was holding a stopwatch as he did at testing and races to call Speed's split times. In this case, he was watching Speed and Slick's times to try and strategize to get the Mach 5 to win, but Sparky looked troubled. "What's wrong?" Trixie said, looking over at Sparky's notes.

"Something's different, Slick is a lot faster than he used to be. Makes me wonder if he got some new engine or something just to compete with Speed." Sparky's notes showed the two cars being as equal, if not more equal than they were when they first faced. "Before Pops installed the GO-V12, when Speed raced with those blueprints on his windshield, the two cars were almost the same, in fact, Slick's car was actually faster and better than the Mach 5 in every way. After the GO-V12 was installed, he didn't have a chance when it came to racing Speed, but now he's keeping up, even leading in some of the sections on this course." Sparky examined, comparing his notes as the cars went by again.

"Then he must have gotten new equipment since he crashed out of the No Limit World Race after Speed knocked him into the sand. I just find it odd that Slick is so adamant about beating Speed, hasn't he been in the 24 Hours of Lemans and the 24 Hours of Daytona? Alpha Team had two cars in those races, I know he was driving one of them." Trixie reflected as the cars passed by again, this time with Slick in the process of taking over the lead.

"I know why it happened." Torque said, walking up to the group.

"Huh? Who're you?" Sparky asked.

"My name is Fin Wheeler, friends call me Torque because I'm big on the no-prep drag racing scene." He introduced.

"Nice to meet you, Torque, I'm Trixie."

"And I'm Sparky, nice to meet you." The two introduced themselves.

"Likewise, thanks. I didn't expect you guys to be so welcoming, Zoomer talks like you guys are demons or something."

"I'm not surprised." Trixie raised an eyebrow and folded her arms.

"Well, I've been his friend since he lost his second race to Speed, I met him at one of my drag races that he decided to attend."

"But why's he got it out for Speed so bad?" Sparky asked.

The cars roared on by as Zoomer gave a dirty look when he saw Torque talking to the others, "He'd better keep his mouth shut!" Slick said, maintaining his lead. He looked in the rear-view mirror to see the Mach 5's signature yellow headlights extremely close behind, "You see, Racer? You see how much better I am than you?" he chuckled to himself as the two cars entered the road course and hit another left that went into a sharp right.

"Got you." Speed said as they entered the sharp right turn, he got his nose under Slick, forcing Slick into an undesirable driving line, allowing Speed to maintain more momentum, thus allowing a clean, but aggressive pass. They headed straight for a while until they hit a tight left that leads into hairpin turns, both cars going left and right and left and right with Slick behind the Mach 5.

"I could wreck him out of the race right here." Slick thought aloud. "But it's only been five laps! How could I be so impatient? This is why this happened in the first place!" He argued to himself as the snake turns opened into a small straight portion leading into Thunderhead's signature feature, The Roundabout; a section normally used for Rallycross, this turn is an actual roundabout that leads to only one exit. Speed and Slick decided to go the long way around which was to go left and go around the roundabout into the small exit curve that leads out to the banked corners.

As they entered the roundabout, Speed noticed that the other end of the tricky turn was open, he knew exactly what it was going to come down to as the two turned into the roundabout, but they kept their composure to conserve their tires until the end which was when they would really punish their cars to win. They entered the high-speed corners and the Mach 5 led the 3rd lap. Speed ended up leading Laps 4 and 5 as well, as their friends watched on at the non-stop hard racing.

Yuon, who was chewing gum and blowing bubbles shouted, "I'm bored!" and stretched out, "How come races can't be three laps and then it's over?" she lounged atop her car.

"Well, if you're so bored by racing, then why do you have a car like that?" Trixie pointed out.

"You're Speed Racer's girl, right?" Yuon asked, jumping down from her car's roof.

"Yeah…" Trixie answered, kind of intimidated.

Yuon sized Trixie up and commented "I'm surprised that a champion like Speed would be into such an average girl like you. He'd be much better off with a girl like me, I'm more his…speed." Yuon laughed at her own pun as Trixie looked on angrily.

"Oh yeah? Well at least I can race a car, you look like you've never touched yours! I bet you're some kind of spoiled brat who gets anything she wants, and Speed doesn't like girls like that." Trixie shot back.

Yuon got in Trixie's face again and batted her eyelashes noticeably fast, "Do you even know who I am? I'm not some normal, boring circuit racer like your boyfriend, I'm a street racer, I race for real. You're just some pretty girl with good arm candy."

Sparky then got in between the two, "Girls, can we please just watch the race?" he pleaded.

"A street racer, huh? Then you'd get even less respect from Speed since you put everyone's lives in danger for a little high!" Trixie shouted.

"Nah, girl, big high, big money." Yuon leaned in, laughing in Trixie's face.

"Alright! Enough!" Sparky took Trixie by the shoulders and directed her back to watching the race, "Let's just watch the race! Leave us alone, Trixie didn't do anything to you!"

"Pssh, okay." Yuon shrugged, climbing back atop her car and lounging around.

Back in the spectator tower, Hank commented, "That almost got interesting."

"That's Yuon "Vroom Vroom" Ling, she's an infamous street racer…and an infamous brat. I bet Trixie noticed Yuon's expensive tastes and accused her of being a brat. But Yuon actually comes from a rather poor family, it's why she started street racing, she bought everything she owns." Rex answered.

"I'm surprised you're not arresting her."

"Honestly, I would, but the sight of Racer X coming to arrest her would start a spectacularly troubling chain of events that may lead to someone being hurt or worse. She'd get in her car and lead me on a wild chase through the streets, it'd be messy." Rex replied.

"I guess so, I didn't think of that. You've gotten good at this whole secret agent work, despite wearing a mask."

"Thanks, I worked very hard on the Racer X thing." But Rex's smile went to a frown as he noticed something else.

"What's wrong?" Hank asked, looking down and noticing the same issue.

"Speed's pushing it too hard on the hairpin turns."

"Yeah, he can barely keep it on the track, it looks like he'll slide off at any second." Hank said.

"I wonder if he even realizes he's pushing too hard, could be an effect of him being used to having the grip tires to save him." As Rex observed this, Slick easily passed Speed as they made their way to the roundabout turn.

"Come on, Speed. You're better than that."

On pit road, Sparky also noticed this and took out his blackboard and chalk. He wrote a message on it and ran down to the apron, the cars passed by, entering lap 9 so he had to wait a moment. Luckily for him, Speed was able to catch Sparky running towards them out of the corner of his eye. In a little over a minute and a half, the two cars came back down, and Sparky held the blackboard, Speed drove close to the side and saw it which read, "Easy on the hairpin." Speed made the mental note and gave Sparky the thumbs up as he passed. Sparky ran back over to the pits where Trixie was watching, he took a minute to catch his breath, Yuon shouted, "Speed should be disqualified! Slick said no help!"

Trixie confronted her again, "No, Slick said 'no powers' he didn't say team members couldn't help. So, we're still playing fair and square; too bad you don't care enough to help Zoomer, now you're calling out little things just because you don't like me."

"Hah! You think I'd be petty for you. Okay, you keep on thinking that." Yuon rolled her eyes and kept watching.

"She's really pushing it." Trixie said to Sparky.

"Chill out, Trix, she's just mad because she'll never be part of the Go-Team." He smiled as the cars kept going around, Speed, this time took the lead after following Sparky's advice. The cars went around and around, swapping positions whether it be taking advantage of a mistake or moving the other out of the way, but everyone knew that it was going to get violent as Speed and Slick crossed the line side-by-side entering Lap 29! Trixie ran out and took the white flag preparing for the two to come back around.

 _"Alright, I have to be ready for him to pull something."_ Speed thought as they went around the sharp right turn and the cars continued along the track.

"This is it, finally time to prove I'm better than you, Speed." Slick said to himself as they got out of the roundabout and into the banked turns where Slick took the lead and slid in front of the Mach 5 as they passed Trixie who waved the white flag, signaling the final lap. Going down into the first left turn, Speed bumped Slick, causing Slick to go wide and Speed passed easily as they took a left curve and went back into the sharp right where Slick put the flatter nose of his car into the Mach 5, performing the same maneuver, but Speed tried to hold his ground, causing the two cars to smack into each other, but they corrected themselves going side by side into the sharp hairpin turn going into a series of left and right turns which is where Speed caught back up and cleanly passed Slick.

Both drivers looked at the roundabout, if Slick went the opposite way than they had been going, he would reach the exit before Speed and had more of a chance to win, and Speed knew that was exactly was Slick was going to do. As they hit the roundabout, Speed turned left, going the way that they had been going and Slick turned right, taking the shortcut and the lead. Speed didn't have much time, Slick gained a lot of ground with that dirty trick, so as they entered the final corners, Speed opened up all of the power from his new engine and he caught Slick midway through the corner! Carrying much more momentum, Speed was able to pass despite Slick's attempt to block which would've ended in catastrophe for both drivers! Slick was able to get behind the Mach 5 and draft, Trixie was waving the checkered flag, Slick tried to slingshot around the Mach 5, but Speed was too fast as they crossed the line and Speed Racer won against Zoomer Slick!

"Well, that settles it. Speed just needs more practice without the Mach 5's abilities." Hank smiled.

"He's gonna be the best, we all know he's destined to be. But for now, I should get going." Rex said.

"Yeah, me too. I'll see you around, Rex." Hank said as the two walked out of the tower as more drama unfolded on the track.

"No…no, not again. **Not again!** " Zoomer screamed as he put his nose into the Mach 5 and shoved the car, causing Speed to spin wildly across the track!

"Oh!" Speed exclaimed as the Mach 5 tipped over, he pressed the D Button in case he flipped so he would be protected. Luckily for him and Sparky, the Mach 5 slammed back down on all fours instead of flipping over. Speed let out a deep breath before realizing what happened and he got out of the car to confront Slick as all of their friends ran over to stop the fight, all except for Yuon, who was just coming to see a fight. Speed ran over to where Slick had stopped and gotten out.

"So, you had one of your powers on all along! I knew you couldn't live without em'!" Zoomer chided, but Speed grabbed Slick's shirt and punched him in the chin!

"What's the matter with you, Slick? You can't take a loss, so you try and kill someone?" Speed grabbed Zoomer's yellow ascot and pulled him upwards as Speed leaned over, "Why can't you just be a good driver, huh? You've proven you are, but you can't take a loss, it's pathetic!" Speed shouted.

"Speed, stop! Hold on, Speed there's more to the story!" Trixie called out as she and Sparky made it over.

"What do you mean there's more?" Speed asked.

"Ask him." Trixie looked at the defeated Zoomer Slick as Torque arrived with Yuon.

"Yeah, Slick, tell em' what this is all about." Torque said.

Zoomer Slick sat on the ground, he looked up at the others and sighed, "Thanks to you, my career ended, Speed."

"What're you talking about? We've known each other since high school, you had the rich family who let you race since you were fifteen, you started racing professionally since we were sixteen, two years before I started, and you flaunted your status in front of me every time we crossed paths! You had your career handed to you, I had to convince Pops to let me drive amateur series let alone pro, I had to show him I was ready because racing had brought nothing but tragedy to my family before I started."

Zoomer looked down, "You don't get it. Being beaten by a rookie like you twice really ruined my status with the Alpha Team. They paid a lot of money to have me race for them, paid, even more, to have me take you and Racer X out which I failed to do. I became a third-stringer for the Alpha Team after that."

"But what about 24 Hours of Lemans and Daytona? You raced in both of those, Alpha Team **won** one of those."

"As I said, I was a third-string driver for both races and my car didn't win the one that Alpha Team secured at Daytona. I drove one stint in each race, I was embarrassed by my own team. Alpha Team didn't even want to sign me up for the No Limit World Race, but I fought tooth and nail to convince them that I was good enough and when the Three Roses paid them to put me in, they had no choice…but who ruined that opportunity?"

"You did, Slick. If you raced me and didn't pull that gun, you would've finished the race."

"Well, I got fired from Alpha Team when you took me out. So, I took whatever winnings and checks I had and I bought a 12-cylinder Ferrari engine to put in my car, so I could still be competitive as an independent, so I could beat the Mach 5, and I almost did, but I couldn't! I couldn't pull it off!" Zoomer began to cry on the ground as a stoic Speed Racer looked down on him. Yuon rolled her eyes and began to walk back to her car, "Wh-where are you going?" Slick cried.

"Seriously? I said you could have me if you won. You lost so, bye." Yuon scoffed as she walked away.

"I can't say I feel bad for you, Slick. If you focused on driving instead of crashing, you'd find more success. Instead, you get wrapped up in all of these schemes and plans so you forget why you're even there in the first place. So long, Slick." Speed said as he and the others started walking away.

"Wait! How can I be like you? How can I find success like you?" Slick cried out.

Speed stopped and looked back, "If this experience taught me anything, it's that…maybe you shouldn't take yourself so seriously. Maybe that's the answer you're looking for." He answered before he, Trixie and Sparky packed into the Mach 5 so Speed could drop them off at the Mercedes and they could all go home.

 _Speed, now confident in his own abilities must get ready for his next adventure in Dubai, but questions still linger from tonight's race: will Zoomer Slick ever make a return to racing? Who really is the mysterious street racing brat, Yuon "Vroom Vroom" Ling? Find out when more thrills, spills, and excitement return for Speed Racer! [Outro Music]_


	9. Challenge of the Prince (Part 1)

Speed Racer: Challenge of the Prince (Part 1)

[Intro Music]

 **Chapter 1: Dubai Streets**

Loud music boomed throughout the dark streets of Dubai as a group of people were hanging out in a parking lot next to their tuned streetcars as a yellow, black, and red #4 car pulled into the parking lot and the group of people cheered as the car pulled in, and out stepped Prince Kim of Flat Hill Country, managing to sneak out at night to join the group. "The party can really begin now that Kim's here!" one of the driver's shouted gleefully.

Kim grinned and looked around, "Looks like I was missing out on the fun."

"Not yet, Kim." Yuon 'Vroom Vroom' Ling announced as she walked up to Prince Kim, "My name is Yuon Ling, Prince Kim. But you can call me 'Vroom Vroom', it's a nickname I developed over the past couple of years since I started this."

"No need for formalities, Vroom Vroom, you can just call me Kim." Kim shook Yuon's hand before turning to address the others, "Alright everyone, make your bets, engines start in ten minutes!" the other drivers turned to each other, passing around cash bets and waving stacks and wads of money in the air. "Alright, start your engines! Let's hit the road!" Kim shouted as everyone jumped in their cars and took to the streets of Dubai. The five-lane highways were perfect for some racing as the cars barreled down the road at high speeds, weaving in and out of lanes before going up a ramp and onto a six-lane highway where there was still traffic; but that didn't stop the street racers from weaving in and out of lanes, getting dangerously close to semi-trucks and people just making their commutes to work.

The red headlights of Kim's Black Tiger made a terrifying impression on the other commuters on the road as he passed them, followed by the bright pink of Vroom Vroom that trailed close behind! It wasn't long until the reckless driving caught up to the group as drivers hit each other, causing them to collide into innocent people, creating pile-ups on the roadways. Kim, Vroom Vroom, and the surviving drivers were unfazed, though as they formed up closely and went down an exit ramps that wound in a massive turn, Kim put on too much throttle, allowing Vroom Vroom to pass under him! But, upon the turn's exit, Kim righted the Black Tiger and used his superior power to pass her back just as they passed the destination that they marked as a finish. Kim exhaled deeply as he slowed down, Vroom Vroom passed him by still at full throttle, upset by her loss. The surviving cars drove into another secluded lot where they cheered from the adrenaline rush that they got from driving on the edge, they didn't care that they lost as much as they rode the high of being in constant danger until the race was over.

"It was a good race." Kim smiled, grabbing the betting pot from his car and handed out the money to those who won, he then took the money of the now deceased drivers and divided it up among the betting winners. "Until next time, Vroom Vroom." Kim said.

"Next time is gonna be soon, Prince. Speed Racer is gonna be in town for that race on Yas Island! I plan to beat him if you're in."

Prince Kim laughed at Vroom Vroom, "You really think that Speed is gonna go along with a street race? You must be out of your mind!"

"I'll do it, the Mach 5 is gonna race on these streets, I guarantee you that!" Vroom Vroom challenged.

"Fine! I'll bring it up with him when he arrives tomorrow, we'll see if he accepts my challenge!"

"You know he won't be able to resist me." Vroom Vroom winked.

"You've met him before?"

"I haven't formally met him, but his little girlfriend is a feisty one. He won't be able to resist me, you just watch." Vroom Vroom commented as she got back into her car and sped off into the city as Kim looked on.

 **Chapter 2: The Prince's Challenge**

As the Mach 5 was unloaded from the plane in Dubai, Speed could do nothing but watch his back, remembering the last time he was in the Middle East when Prince Kim smashed into the Mach 5 with his Black Tiger to test its strength. "I don't think Kim will hit your car again, Speed." Trixie said, trying to comfort her boyfriend.

"I know, I just have this feeling, Trixie. I already destroyed a Mach 5 once this year, I don't need this new one to get damaged beyond repair again." He replied, looking around as the Mach 5 was set on the ground and the straps were taken off of it, allowing Speed and Trixie to enter and drive to their posh hotel situated in a structure built in the middle of the race track, guaranteeing that Speed would never be far from the Mach 5 or some extra practice. Speed and Trixie were unpacking their cases as a knock came to the door, "I'll get it." Speed said, going to the door and opening it, revealing Prince Kim in his yellow racing suit, "Kim!" Speed exclaimed.

"Hello Speed, good to see you." Kim greeted.

"Hi, Kim! How's your father?" Trixie asked, going up to Kim and shaking his hand.

"Everything is well in Flathill, Trixie, and my father is doing great, thanks for asking." Kim said.

"So, what's up, Kim? Is something wrong?" Speed asked.

"I need to talk to you for a moment, Speed. If you don't mind, Trixie, I'll be taking Speed out tonight."

Trixie laughed, "Alright, I'll finish unpacking and start on the strategy for our practice and qualifying sessions."

"Thanks, Trixie, you're the best." Speed said, embracing his girlfriend.

"No girls, though." She replied, "Take this, it'll be cold." she handed Speed his leather jacket, it was dark blue with his 'G' on the left side of the chest and two red racing stripes going down the right side.

"Thanks, Trix. And I know, you're the only girl in the universe that can keep up."

"Don't you forget it." Trixie said as Speed and Kim left the hotel and walked down to the track, approaching the Black Tiger.

"I see the Black Tiger is still looking sharp."

"As always." Kim pulled out his keys and pressed a button, opening the canopy and revealing a new second seat, "Get in, Speed. I have to show you something."

"Where are we going, Kim?"

"You'll see." Kim said as they buckled their seatbelts and left the track, going onto the road. "Last time you were here, I never got to show you around."

Speed looked around the massive Arabian city in awe, "Wow, this place is really groovy."

"Our culture is rich here, and so are many of the people." Kim boasted, pointing out all of the luxury cars and sports cars that lined the streets.

"Glad to see your people appreciate cars as much as we do back home."

"That's right, I'm going to introduce you to a group I drive with. Perhaps you'd like to join us." Kim grinned as he drove into a garage, going down to the lower level that was lined with modified and tuned cars, loud music, and bass shook the air as Kim parked the Black Tiger and opened the canopy, allowing him and Speed to exit. But then everyone stopped and looked, even the music turned down as the World Champion was now in their presence.

The people whispered among themselves until a high-pitched voice said, "Speed Racer!" and out through the crowd walked Vroom Vroom with a smile on her face.

"You! I remember you, you were at my grudge match with Slick!" Speed said.

"That's not a way to greet a lady, Speed." Vroom Vroom taunted putting her hand out, "You should kiss my hand."

Speed looked at her with a stern expression and took her hand, bringing it down and shaking it, "I don't care if you're a girl, I heard about how you treated Trixie so I don't want to associate with someone like you."

"Have it your way, Speedy." she winked before turning to Kim, "I'm surprised you got him down here, your majesty."

"You know I don't like being called that, Vroom Vroom." Kim grumbled.

"Have it your way, Kimi. Let's roll out and start this thing already, kay?" Vroom Vroom laughed as she walked back to her pink roadster.

Speed looked over to Kim, "Are we going back to the track? I thought this was a car show or something."

Kim opened the canopy of the Black Tiger again, "Get in Speed, let's have ourselves a race." Speed, assuming they were going back to the track got in and all of the cars in the garage roared to life as the Black Tiger led them out of the garage.

"Kim, the track's that way." Speed said, pointing to a street as they sped down an intersection, but Kim ignored him and kept going faster and faster, they ran red lights and signs, ignoring all of the rules as they continued on! Speed held onto his seat, starting to get scared of what was going on, "Kim, that's enough!" Kim still didn't answer, "Kim? Kim!" Speed shouted as the cars were about to hit the expressway, bunching together to go down an off-ramp.

 **Chapter 3: Addicted to the Rush**

"Kim, slow down!" Speed yelled.

"What's the matter, Speed? Are you afraid of going fast?" Kim said as he and the others went down the ramp at high speeds, some cars crashing into the walls and into each other.

"Don't you know what happens if you get caught? You can't be this stupid!"

"I don't have to answer to the laws! I'm royalty!" Kim said as they approached traffic and began to swerve between cars and semi-trucks, using them as obstacles. Some drivers failed and smashed into the innocent drivers that they were endangering.

"Come on, you can't seriously be that way!" Speed said as he watched Vroom Vroom's car pass them.

"Not again, Vroom Vroom." Kim said, becoming intense and turning on his red headlights. "Listen, Speed. Tomorrow night there's going to be a race just like this but at the same time, very different. I call it, the 'Black Flag Grand Prix'. From the center of Abu Dhabi to Dubai."

"I don't street race, Kim."

"You should, tomorrow. There's a grand prize in it for the winner and only the most fearless drivers could possibly win the race. Sadly from what I've seen, you're just another coward."

"Coward?!" Speed's pride got ahead of him.

"It was hard not to notice how scared you were going down the ramp. How did you ever become world champion?"

Speed snapped, "Fine! I'll race in your Black Flag Grand Prix! I'll show you what a real champion can do, now let me out!"

Kim smiled and stopped the Black Tiger, allowing Speed to leave, "See you tomorrow night, Speed." Kim said as he drove off, leaving Speed on the side of the road.

Speed clenched his fist as Kim drove off, but then he grinned as he went to find a payphone, and when he did, he called the hotel which connected him to Trixie, "Speed? Are you alright?"

"Trixie, I need you to pick me up with the Mach 5. Something is going down tomorrow night and we need to make a plan." Speed said, looking towards the road as more cars involved in the street race ran past him.

 _Speed seems to have accepted Prince Kim's challenge to race in the Black Flag Grand Prix, has his pride gotten ahead of him? Has he, like Kim become addicted to the adrenaline rush that is street racing? Find out in the next episode of, Speed Racer!_

[Outro Music]

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hey everyone, I'm back to continue Speed Racer Season 2 after taking a break from writing fan fiction to go write my own novel! If you're interested, it's called _Special Defense Unit Volume I: Unite!_ And it's coming out on Amazon on July 30th (9 days at the time of submitting this). If you want to know more about the book, check out the Southpaw-Comics Facebook page for promotional art, previews, the synopsis, and updates! Thanks for reading and I'm glad to have returned to the world of Speed Racer!


	10. Challenge of the Prince (Part 2)

Speed Racer: Challenge of the Prince (Part 2)

[Intro Music]

 **Chapter I:** Speed's Plan

"Black Flag Grand Prix? That sounds dangerous, Speed." Trixie said as she drove Speed back to the hotel on Yas Island.

"I don't take well to being called a coward, Trixie. I've got to win and beat Kim and Vroom Vroom, but I've got a plan when we get back to the hotel." Speed said as they continued back to Abu Dhabi.

Later, as Speed and Trixie were waiting, a knock came to their door and Speed opened it, revealing Inspector Detector and another man behind him, "I got your call and came right away, Speed." the inspector said, as Speed let the two men in.

"Ah, this is the Speed Racer I've heard so much about." the other man greeted, holding out his hand, Speed accepted the handshake, "I'm Detective Jamil, a friend of Inspector Detector's and I work for the police in Dubai."

"Nice to meet you, sir." Speed said.

"I didn't expect you to join, inspector." Trixie said, shaking the inspector's hand.

"I had to, Trixie. Some of the racers involved with the rampant and seemingly random street races here are from the States and I've come to bring them back." Inspector Detector said.

"What about Kim? He claimed that he's above the law." Speed told the law enforcers.

"He basically is, Speed." Detective Jamil said.

"What? How could anyone be above the law?"

"He's a Prince of another land, he has diplomatic immunity. If we catch him, we can only detain him until the King of Flathill or a representative of the King of Flathill Country comes to pick him up. Then he will face consequences of his own country, but since he's the Prince, Kim will only get a slap on the wrist. The worst that'll happen is that Flathill will have to pay a fine to Dubai and that won't be difficult for them, either." Jamil explained.

"Wow, I didn't know that." Speed said, shocked by the law.

"It makes me wonder why foreign diplomats don't commit crime more often if they're immune to consequences." Trixie added.

"It's simple, any crime caused by a diplomat in a foreign land can cause ties between countries to become strained, especially if it's serious." Inspector Detector said.

"How bad will tensions between Dubai and Flathill be when Kim is caught?" Speed asked.

"It shouldn't be too bad since Kim is young and prone to having bad ideas. I'd be more worried about you and Kim's friendship, Speed." Inspector Detector thought for a moment and continued, "Speaking of bad ideas… you want to help catch them by joining the Black Flag Grand Prix tomorrow night, don't you?" Speed looked down, finding it impossible to lie to someone he and his family considered a close friend, "Speed, this race will put you in mortal danger, I can't allow it." he lectured.

"But, inspector! I know I can stop Kim, I've got to try!"

"Absolutely not. I'm sorry if I sound like Pops, but I cannot put your life in danger in an illegal street race. The Abu Dhabi and Dubai police, with the aid of the FBI will take this race down, stay out of it. Please." Inspector Detector said as he left and Detective Jamil followed.

Jamil looked back, before closing the door behind him, "Thanks for the tip, Speed. Good luck in the race on Sunday, I hope you win."

"Thank you, sir." Speed said as the two left, and Speed looked to the floor and sighed.

"I know it's hard to turn down a race after being called a coward, but you know it's a bad idea, right, Speed? Come on, let's get to bed."

Once cleaned up and in bed, Speed lied awake and was still thinking of the Black Flag Grand Prix, " _If I get caught in the race, I could be disqualified from the Yas Island Enduro. But I can't let Kim get away with calling me a coward like that, so sure of himself. I can't. I won't._ "

The next day, Speed and Trixie took in the sights of Abu Dhabi and Yas Island, touring the city before Practice 1 and 2 started. They showed off some of the powers of the Mach 5, signed autographs and took pictures, but behind the smiles, Speed was on a one-track mindset. In the late afternoon, Speed tests the Mach 5 around the Yas Marina Circuit for the second time, "That's it, Speed. The session is over, bring it in." Speed took a slow lap before driving the Mach 5 in the pits and into their assigned garage, "You had the fourth fastest time in practice one, but you climbed to second today in practice two. We should play with the set-up more like Sparky suggested, maybe slightly more downforce would do the Mach 5 some good." Trixie said.

"The downforce is okay, it's the chicane at the end of the back-straight that keeps getting me, I need to get on the brakes earlier is all." Speed replied.

"Is everything okay, Speed?"

"Uh-huh…" Speed looked to the setting sun and continued, "...hey, it's getting late. Wanna grab something to eat? I'm hungry."

"Sounds like a plan." Trixie smiled as the two went back to the hotel to have dinner.

Hours later, when they returned, "I'm beat." Speed huffed as he sat in a chair.

"Me, too." Trixie agreed, but when she looked over, Speed was already asleep. "Wow, I didn't expect you to be that tired." Trixie commented as she went to get ready for bed.

Speed jolted awake, his subconscious reminding him that he had plans! It was already dark outside, he looked around and saw that the bathroom light was on, " _Good, she must be preoccupied._ " Speed said as he grabbed his jacket and left the room. He made it out of the hotel and went to the garages, using his key to open it up revealing… "Trixie!" Speed exclaimed.

"I knew you couldn't turn the race down, you're a really terrible liar, Speed."

"I've gotta race him, Trixie, I've gotta prove to Kim that I'm not a coward!"

"Why are you so hung up on what he says? You're the World Champion, you have nothing to prove to him! Listen, Speed, do you really want to jump into an illegal street race over some dumb insult? Everything you built with Inspector Detector will be gone, all of the leverage you built will vanish if you do this."

Speed thought for a moment, "If I'm not gonna enter the race, I'll stop it from happening altogether!" he said, pushing past Trixie and hopping in the Mach 5, launching it out of the garage and onto the streets of Abu Dhabi.

"Speed!" Trixie called out, "Ohh, what am I gonna do with you?"

 **Chapter 2:** The Black Flag Grand Prix

"I told you he wouldn't come." Vroom Vroom laughed.

"I wouldn't be so sure of that." Kim said as the Mach 5's horn echoed, as Speed drove up to the group. "Well, welcome, Speed! We were afraid you weren't gonna show!"

Speed hopped out of his car and shouted, "The race has to be canceled, the police have been tipped off!" the other racers looked surprised, "Listen to me, Kim. If you don't stop this, the police will catch you and you won't be able to race in the Enduro tomorrow!"

"I've told you already, Speed. I'm not afraid of the law, I want to be apart of the excitement! I want to live my life the way I want to!" Kim shot back before jumping into the Black Tiger, "Everyone who isn't afraid of racing like Speed, let's go! The cops are coming and I'll give more money to whoever can beat them! The start of the Black Flag Grand Prix is now!" The Black Tiger peeled out as well as Vroom Vroom's hot pink car! Other racers drove past, but most stayed.

One of the drivers walked up to Speed, "You're the World Champion, right? You should go stop him, especially with the power of the Mach 5!"

"Stay here, and if you wanna get into racing, this isn't the way to do it. Trust me." Speed said as he hopped into the Mach 5 and pursued the group, leaving the driver's that didn't enter questioning their passion as racers. The group of cars got lucky with a green light, but as Speed approached, it turned red so he slammed the A Button and jumped over the passing traffic, landing seamlessly on the other side, effortlessly catching up to the group. As he went down the exit, catching the tail of the pack, he pressed the B Button, deploying the belt tires which allowed him to go flat-out down the curved ramp. Now he caught the group, and mimicking Kim's scare tactic with the Black Tiger, he pressed the E Button, turning on his special illumination, which turned the night red, but then Speed got an idea, turning on the independent mode on the headlights, allowing them to swivel and blind some of the drivers ahead of him, forcing them to stop on the shoulder of the road and quit. " _I'm glad that worked, maybe I can convince Kim to stop after all._ "

" _No way!_ " Kim panicked, looking in his rear-view and seeing the Mach 5's much brighter headlights blind other racers and clean the road as the street came to a slight curve, some drivers weren't able to find grip and slammed into the median walls.

"Alright, I think the amateurs have been weeded out." Speed thought aloud, pressing the E Button again, turning the red high-beams off and drove alongside Vroom Vroom who was desperately trying to get away. Speed looked over to her, surprised she actually had her 'game-face' on, "What've you got? Sounds like a twin-turbo rotary." Speed shouted, commenting on her engine.

She looked over, "What about it, Speedy?"

Speed grinned, "That's impressive, but not more impressive than my V-12, 'Vroom Vroom'." Speed mocked.

This mockery instantly upset Vroom Vroom as she tried to side-swipe Speed, but, using his superior acceleration, Speed lightly pressed the gas and got out of the way. Vroom Vroom swerved too hard and lost control, she tried to point her car in the right direction but she ended up slamming the rear-end of her car into the median wall, bending her rear axle and putting her out of the race, "Damn you, Speed Racer! Damn you!" she screamed as the Mach 5 disappeared in the distance.

The Mach 5 entered a tunnel ahead, the V-12 note echoing through in a euphoric chorus of speed as he started to see the Black Tiger ahead of him, but then a diamond white set of headlights blinded Speed from behind, Speed slowed down, his eyes have been very sensitive to light since the Alpine Race a year ago. But then Racer X with Trixie in the passenger seat pulled next to him, "Racer X? Trixie?"

"Speed, you have to stop now! The police are waiting for Kim at the end of the tunnel!"

"Oh!" Speed exclaimed, slamming the brakes as they approached the end of the tunnel which now was lit up with the blue lights of Dubai police! Racer X stopped next to him and he and Trixie got out of the Shooting Star.

"What were you thinking, Speed?" Racer X scolded.

"I wanted to get them to stop before they got into trouble! You saw all of the stopped cars back there, I stopped them!" Speed defended.

"Regardless, you went against the wishes of Inspector Detector and Detective Jamil. You're lucky Trixie was able to call me in time, you would've been arrested."

Speed leaned against the Mach 5 and sighed, placing his head in his hand, "What a bad weekend it's been. Even when I try to do good, I'm not."

"You let your pride get ahead of you again, similar to the time we first raced, and the incident with the assassins in Japan after that. You have to control those urges, Speed. If you don't, you'll end up like Prince Kim out there." Racer X pointed to Kim who was being handcuffed and the Black Tiger being put onto a flatbed, "I understand what it means to be competitive, trust me. I wouldn't be Racer X if my ego didn't get ahead of me, you can't make the same mistakes, you must be better."

"You're right. I'm sorry I lied, Trixie." Speed apologized.

"Speed, I know you were trying to do the right thing, but it's not worth it." she said, embracing him.

"I know that now... and thank you, Rac… Rex."

Racer X smiled, "Now go back to Abu Dhabi and get rest, you have qualifying tomorrow."

"We will. Let's go, Trix." and as they went back to the Mach 5, Speed looked back at the exit of the tunnel, seeing Kim and the rest of the police drive away.

 **Chapter 3:** Cooldown Lap

The sun rose upon the Yas Marina Circuit as Speed fueled the Mach 5 and checked if everything was functioning before qualifying, on the TV in the garage, the news came out about Prince Kim's arrest, "Royal racer caught! Last night, Prince Kim of Flathill country was caught in an illegal street race by Dubai's Detective Jamil and the United States' FBI Agent Inspector Detector. Prince Kim was let out of detention this morning and was sent home with representatives of Flathill. No charges could be pressed due to Kim's diplomatic immunity. In related news, multiple racers quit or crashed out of the race, claiming that bright red lights blinded them, causing them to pull over and stop. It's thought that Prince Kim's car, the Black Tiger is the car in question." Speed sighed as Trixie turned the news off.

"I'm sorry, Speed. I know you consider him a friend."

"It fine, Trixie. I should've listened to you and the inspector in the first place. I'm just worried, maybe he thinks I caused his arrest… and I did."

"Drivers, prepare for qualifying. Drivers, prepare for qualifying." an announcement rang over the intercoms placed in every garage.

"We'll talk about it later, okay? For now, you gotta get out there and get pole position."

"Right." Speed got into the Mach 5 and turned it on while Trixie opened the garage, "Trixie, I have a question before I go."

"What is it, Speed?" She asked.

"How'd you know Rex was going to be here?"

"He's always here Speed." Trixie smiled, Speed returned the smile and with this boost of confidence, he drove out of the garage, down the pits and to the track to begin his flying lap. As he drove down the long back straight, through the chicane, down the third straight and to the hotel portion where the track goes under the hotel, he saw Rex on the balcony of the hotel watching him qualify.

"Thanks, Rex. I won't forget what you told me." Speed said as he began his qualifying lap. More excitement and life-changing moments await Speed in the future so make sure you tune in to the next episode of, Speed Racer!

[Outro Music]

Author's note: Thanks again for reading! I hope you enjoyed this 2 parter as we move on the single part story to cool down from this one and so I can plan to future episodes where the season really begins to heat up. If you want to read more of my stuff, I have a superhero novel coming out on Amazon on July 30th called _Special Defense Unit Volume I: Unite!_ which, at the time of writing this, comes out in a week so don't miss it! I have a DA page: .com where I have the art of the SDU characters, bios, trivia, previews for the book, and a pilot for a future book called _Resident Blaq_ , which I desperately need reviews on. Thanks for reading and Stay Tuned for the next episode of Speed Racer!


	11. Racers

Speed Racer: Racers

[Intro Music]

 **Chapter I:** The Derby

"Pops, do you need help?" Speed knocked on the garage door.

"Everything is okay, Speed! Sparky and I are doing well, don't worry!" Pops answered through the garage door.

"Okay, just tell me if you need anything!" Speed said as he walked away, " _Pops has been in the garage for almost a week straight aside from dinner and sleep._ " Speed thought as he went outside where Spritle was playing with Chim Chim. "Hey, Spritle! Whatcha doin'?" Speed greeted.

"Hi, Speedy!" Spritle replied, revealing a Mach 5 toy, "Chim Chim and I are working on a project!"

"Oh yeah?" Speed looked over and saw crude blueprints that Spritle drew with colored pencils and crayons, "What this?" Speed asked.

"Well, I know you've been busy, but there's a soap-box race that I want to enter and I wanna build the Mach 5." Spritle said.

"Oh? What race is it, I didn't hear about a derby?"

"It's the 38th Annual Snow Cap Derby, did you race in it?"

Speed was filled with nostalgia and smiled, "I forgot about the Snow Cap Derby, I've been so focused on my professional career that it left my mind. I won two of the three I entered. Slick crashed me out on my second one because I won my first derby by a couple of inches."

"So, can you help me, Speed? The derby is in a week and I really want to enter." Spritle pleaded.

"Well, my soapbox car should be in the garage. If we can get this done in time, you should consider yourself lucky." Speed knelt down and picked up Spritle's blueprints, "But why the Mach 5? Most soap box derby cars are small open wheelers." Speed asked.

"It would still be one seat, but the Mach 5's front-end is so big that it would give me a weight advantage going downhill. The only problem would be the corner." Spritle explained.

"I'm surprised you thought this out so much." Speed patted his brother on the head.

"Thanks." Spritle accepted, sheepishly.

Speed examined the blueprints, "Maybe we could remedy the handling around the corners. I'll have to see, though. But right now, I'm gonna head in the garage and get my derby car so we can get it cleaned up."

"Alright, Speed! Thanks for helping me." Spritle hugged Speed.

"You got it Spritle, I'm up for anything as long as it isn't you causing trouble." Speed laughed as he went to the garage door and knocked again.

"Yes, Speed?" Pops asked.

"Hey Pops, I gotta break out my Snow Cap Derby car."

"What on Earth for?"

"Spritle wants to race in the derby."

Heavy footsteps came closer and closer as Pops poked his head through the door, "Are you sure that it isn't some scam, Speed? Your brother has a habit of causing trouble."

"It seems sincere to me, look at these." Speed handed Pops the blueprints.

"Well, I'll be. Do you want some help with this? I could build this wooden shell in no-time."

"Are you sure, Pops? You seem busy."

"I could use a break." Pops smiled, "Hold on." Pops went back into the garage to cover up whatever he was working on before opening the garage door.

"Wow!" Spritle exclaimed as Pops rolled out Speed's old derby car, it was open-wheeled and cylindrical, it was painted white with a red "5" painted on the side, as well as the essential "M" logo on the front.

"Well, let's see what we're working with." Pops said, as he unclipped the ultra-light body of the car and lifted it, revealing the wooden skeleton of the derby car. Pops stroked his mustache, "Well if we're gonna make a Mach 5 version, we gotta connect the new body to the chassis."

"Can you do it, Pops?" Spritle asked hands clasped, praying that it could be done.

Pops leaned down to his son's level and smiled, "I build the best racing cars in the world, a Snow Cap Derby car isn't gonna bring your ol' Pops down!"

"Yay!" Spritle cheered as Speed went back inside to ask his mom if his old gear was still around. As Speed walked passed the garage, he saw Pops' project and the biggest thing he noticed was two massive rear wings holding the tarp up as he went inside of the house.

Moments later, Speed walked out with denim overalls, brown leather gloves, and kid-sized racing boots, "Here you go, Spritle." Speed said, handing Spritle the clothes, "These are what I wore back when I was in the derby. Now it's your turn." he said as he also revealed a white helmet with a red stripe going down it and leather goggles.

Spritle's eyes widened as he took the helmet and goggles, holding them close to him, "I'll make you proud, Speed. I promise!" Spritle said as the sun started to go down and the Racers retired for the night.

 **Chapter II:** Pops Racer's New Project

The next day, Speed, Pops, and Spritle, dressed in his hand-me-down racing gear went outside and brought the derby car with them. It was a very productive day, as Spritle was fitted for a seat, and as Pops got materials to fabricate the new body and frame according to the Snow Cap Derby regulations, Speed, Trixie, and Spritle went atop the hill with the car to test it out. "Welcome to Snow Cap Hill, Spritle. The last time you were here, you were only a baby." Speed said as Spritle peered down the hill that got steeper and steeper before going into a right turn.

"Boy, Speed, are you sure it's safe?" Spritle said, not realizing how steep Snow Cap Hill really was.

"I'm sure, especially when I'm around. You got your lucky socks?" Speed asked and Spritle lifted his pant leg to show is bright red socks, "Good. You'll be fine. Trixie is down there, she set up cones that represent the right and left chicane that the race will have this weekend and she'll wave the checkers when you finish." Speed smiled.

"Okay…" Spritle got into the derby car and Speed closed a hatch on him, leaving only his head sticking out.

Speed knelt down to his brother's level, "Everything in the car was changed this morning, okay? New brakes, new wheels, new steering rack, everything. Trust the car, trust the team and trust yourself. That's how I win, and that's how you'll win." Speed said, tightening Spritle's helmet properly. "My advice for the corner is, don't slam the brakes, only go firm on the brakes and turn into the corner, let off of the brakes and let the gravity carry you out of the corner. Once you are, you'll reach the chicane, according to the map, you won't need to touch your brakes, just don't whip the steering wheel around and you'll be fine to the finish."

"Okay, Speed. I'm ready." Spritle said as Speed pushed the derby car down the hill. It felt like a rollercoaster dive as the car picked up speed, going down the hill. Spritle's heart beat faster and faster the more speed he picked up, but as he approached the corner, his fear overcame him and all of the advice Speed gave went out the window as Spritle jammed the brakes and flung the wooden car into the corner!

"Oh no!" Speed winced as Spritle spun out off of the road and into the grass which turned the derby car on its side. Speed and Trixie ran up to Spritle as he clambered out of the derby car, "Are you okay, Spritle?"

Spritle looked at Speed with tears welling up in his eyes, "I'm sorry, Speed. I got scared and panicked."

"That's fine, Spritle. We all get scared, especially when it's your first time going fast like that." Speed went to the soapbox car and put it on its wheels, "Come on. You're gonna try again until you don't feel scared anymore."

"Are you sure, Speed? It's one thing to be scared, it's another to crash on your first time." Trixie said.

"We've got to, or else we won't be able to enter the race. Spritle will never be able to race, period if he can't get over his fear of going fast." Speed returned, lifting the front of the car, "Let's go, Spritle." he said as he and Spritle walked back up the hill.

Throughout the day and into the evening, Spritle faced trials and tribulations as he tried as hard as he could to control the car going downhill. He just had a problem with the first corner, braking too early or too hard being chief among his problems; sending him into spins or going into the turn too slowly. But going into the chicane he went left and right without a problem, but his times weren't up to par. At this rate, Spritle wouldn't be able to make it to the final.

When they got home, the Racers had dinner where Speed have Spritle more tips about driving and then he went to put the derby car back in the garage where to his surprise, Pops was waiting for him, "Pops?" Speed asked, putting the car down.

"So, you were pretty hard on Spritle today, huh, Speed?"

"He wants to win, you have to be tough to win races."

"I guess I should expect as much from a son of mine… and as a son of mine, I assume you're curious about my secret project and are itching to investigate it." Speed didn't know what exactly to say as Pops walked over to the tarp and pulled it revealing a car that sent shivers down Speed's spine. It had a shorter front than the Mach 5, but still had the trademark triple prongs on the front, it had a skinny mid-section with a single seat fitted in the middle of the car, and had a massive rear end with huge tail-wings. The stance of the car was super-aggressive, the wheels and tires were perfectly flush with the wheel wells. There were two huge air intakes in front of the rear wheels for brake cooling, two big intakes above those for the assumably massive mid-mounted engine, and there were bizarre, yellow-painted rectangular areas on the skirts of the car. "I call her the Mach 5-X. The **ultimate** expression of speed, the **ultimate** expression of racing." Pops announced.

"Pops… what on Earth is this for? This can't be legal in endurance and rally, the WRL barely wants to accept the Mach 5 as it is!"

"Well, Speed. I haven't told you since you've been helping Spritle, but a man named, Sal Diamond invited us, and many other teams to race in an experimental race called the Diamond Super Prix. The track is under construction as we speak, and it involves racing we've never dreamed of before, loops, corkscrews, it's like driving on a massive toy car track and only a car like the Mach 5-X can take the stress."

"But Pops, for a car to navigate a track like that… it would have to be faster than the GRX!"

"Well, let me explain why people fainted behind the wheel of that car. It was all in the torque, it pulled almost infinitely and the G-forces were so intense that they would cause the driver to faint. Yes, the car was fast, but it had no curve so it spiked and kept pulling until the engine couldn't go any faster. In the Mach 5-X, despite the top speed being 555 mph, possibly faster, it won't constantly pull you, and it has special safety features installed like a jet so you won't be overwhelmed with g's."

"Why would you agree to enter me into such a race, though?"

"Because Speed… if you win that race, our family is financially secure forever. The winnings are huge, bigger than any other race in history."

"But I've been winning consistently over the season! We're in contention to be world champions again, we don't have to race in something that dangerous!"

"Son, I'd never ask you to race in a race like this if it wasn't important. Besides, look over here…" Pops led Speed over to look in the cockpit of the car, "...I'm installing safety abilities in the 5-X, just like the Mach 5. I'd never let you race without a safety net, Speed."

"I dunno, Pops. I'm sure you thought this would be an instant hit with me and you went through all the trouble, but I wasn't involved in the construction, you and Sparky didn't tell me anything and this is something big to spring on someone. I dunno, Pops... I have to think about this."

"Alright, Speed. We'll install the new body and frame on Spritle's car tomorrow. Have a good rest." Pops sighed as Speed went back to his room.

 **Chapter III:** Spritle's Mach 6?

The next morning, Spritle woke up to the sight of Pops and Speed putting the new body on the car. It turned out sleeker than he had expected, but he didn't mind one bit as he ran to his new car, "Wow, I can't believe it! This is amazing!" Spritle jeered.

Speed laughed, "Isn't it great? Even I'm impressed."

"I wanna go to Snow Cap Hill right now and test it out!"

"Not before breakfast, boys." Mom Racer said, gleefully watching the three get excited over the completion of Spritle's car.

As they ate, Speed asked, "What color are you gonna paint it?"

"I'm not." Spritle answered.

"You're not?" Speed responded, surprised.

"No. I don't want to add any more weight than there has to be, so I'm just gonna paint a number."

"You sound like some kind of engineer, Spritle. Not wanting to paint the car to save weight." Pops said.

"I read about it working for some people, that they polished the raw surface of the car and that helped make it faster!" Spritle defended.

"Alright, so we'll paint on your number and polish the rest." Speed said as they continued to eat until they could go work on the car again.

In the garage, Pops handed Speed and Spritle masks, templates, and spray paint, "Whatever you want, Spritle." he said.

Spritle looked at the templates and paint. He took the red paint and blue paint and placed a circle template on the hood of the car and painted it red, then painting a bright blue "6" over it. He did the same to the sides, and left it at that, "Perfect." Spritle said as Pops got sanding materials and polish, making the wood surface as smooth as humanly possible.

"I think it should be ready to test." Pops said as he and Speed loaded the car up on a truck and left to Snow Cap Hill.

When there, they set up at the top of the hill, "Alright, Spritle, I meddled with your brakes again, they shouldn't lay on as heavy as they did yesterday and remember my pointers." Spritle nodded, this time with confidence as Speed pushed him down the hill. Spritle felt that familiar feeling in his gut as he went down and gathered a ton of speed. This time, he accelerated faster thanks to the added weight by the new body of the car and the smooth polish of the wood. When he came to that difficult corner, he lightly pressed the brakes and turned in best he could, but the car broke loose and spun sideways. Speed placed his hands on his hips and sighed as Spritle made his way back up.

Luckily, his brother did in fact, improve upon his times from the previous day by a considerable amount. When he was able to keep the car on the track, he was totally fine, even possibly able to make it into the final… but something still felt off about the car. When the Racers packed up for the day and went home, Spritle remembered how he's seen Speed be so assertive with Pops and Sparky when it came to the Mach 5 so he tried his hand at leading. "Something still makes me uncomfortable with the car." Spritle said.

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Well, the car is having trouble in the hairpin, it's too tight for a car this heavy to complete the turn. I might need more downforce."

"How do you know anything about aerodynamics?" Pops scoffed.

"By watching you guys for so long. I don't know anything, but I think if we bridge the gap between the rear fins and make them into a spoiler, I can slow the car down sooner, and even take that corner faster."

Speed and Pops looked at each other in surprise, then looked back at Spritle, "How long have you known about this kind of engineering, Spritle?" Speed asked.

"Oh, a long time. Ever since Speed started racing professionally." Spritle answered.

" _It's only been a little over a year…_ " Speed thought, "...Okay, we'll try that." Speed said as they went home and unloaded the car.

"Alright, Spritle, time to take a bath and have dinner." Pops said as Spritle ran into the house, greeted by Chim Chim.

"Pops… I think Spritle is much more than he lets on."

"I agree, Speed. Your younger brother may just turn out to be an engineer." Pops said the thought of Spritle as an accomplished engineer made him proud, but he shook it off since Spritle was still just a kid, "Come on Speed. Let's add a spoiler." Pops said, grabbing a grinder. They ground the fins flat, and made them low-profile, then taking a plank and rounding the front, and thinning it out at the back, optimizing the piece of wood as much as possible before sanding and polishing it and placing it at the rear of the car. Pops and Speed rubbed the sweat from their brows and smiled, "She's ready." Pops said looking upon Spritle's "Mach 6".

 **Chapter IV:** The 38th Annual Snow Cap Derby

The excitement in the morning was palpable as Spritle Racer got up extra early in the morning and got ready for the big Snow Cap Derby that was only a few hours away. As he ran to the kitchen, his family was waiting for him, "Spritle, you're up already?" Speed questioned in surprise.

"Yep! I'm all ready for my first race!" Spritle announced proudly.

"Winners aren't ready without breakfast, Spritle." Mom laughed, patting Spritle on the head as she went to prepare a meal for them before the race.

"We're definitely gonna win, right Chim Chim?" Spritle asked the pet chimpanzee who clapped in hand gleefully.

"Spritle, while mom gets breakfast ready, why don't I show you the modification to your car?" Pops said, leading Spritle into the garage and flicking the light on. There it was, Spritle's 'Mach 6' complete with a brand new rear wing. Spritle walked to the rear of his derby car and inspected the new aerodynamic piece, looking at how it thinned out and wept back, he smiled and gave Pops a thumb up, indicating that it was ready for action.

"Hey Spritle, come here, I've gotta talk with you about something very important."

"What is it, Speed?" Spritle asked, leaving the garage.

"Well, you've gotta learn the bracket structure of the race." Speed said, patting a spot next to him on the couch, opening the Snow Cap Derby manual, "Alright, Spritle, this year 20 cars have entered the derby. The bracket is quite simple, 4 sets of 5 cars will go down the hill in heat races. The top 3 of each heat will move on to a 6-car semi-final, where the top 2 of the semi-finals will face off in the 4-car final." Speed illustrated, drawing an interpretation on a sticky note.

"Wow, the first races are gonna be hard with so many cars." Spritle said.

"That's right, it'll get crowded around the hairpin for sure. Just be careful and make sure you hit your marks. The new rear wing will help you in the hairpin for sure, so I don't want to hear that you got scared." Speed coached.

"I won't be scared, Speed. I'll win!" Spritle exclaimed.

"Boys? Breakfast!" Mom called as the Racers all had a breakfast together before packing into the truck and leaving for the hill.

As they arrived, they saw that Trixie and Sparky were waiting for them, "Hey, Spritle! Ready to race?" Sparky asked.

"You bet, Sparky, I'm gonna win the race for sure!" Spritle said as they unloaded his car.

"Speed told us you had a lot of input in the design." Trixie joined.

"I did, I wanted the car to be as smooth as possible for sped, but the wing will help me slow down since I'm already heavier than most of the cars here." Spritle expounded.

"Wow, you really were paying attention when you watched me and Pops work on the Mach 5, huh?" Sparky marveled.

Spritle smiled as Trixie added, "Well, win or lose, we're all very proud of you, Spritle."

"Thanks." Spritle said sheepishly, not being used to any praise whatsoever.

" _Racers to the starting line for heat 1! Cars #1-5!"_ The announcer said.

"Alright, Spritle, get in your car, we're loading the next heat as soon as the first race goes." Speed said, ushering Spritle over to the start gate, "Now watch." Speed instructed as the gate opened, releasing 5 derby cars down the steep hill! Two of the five cars got far ahead, but applied their brakes too late, causing them to hit the curb on the outside of the hairpin, disabling their cars as the remaining 3 didn't fight to win and rolled smoothly across the finish.

" _Cars 1,3, and 4 make it to the Semi-final! Cars 6-10 please line up!"_

Spritle gulped as his car was pushed right against the gate, "You got your socks on?" Speed asked.

Spritle looked up at his big brother, whom he idolized and gave a smile and a thumb up as the flagman readied the green flag, then waving it, the gates shot open fast like in a horse race, unleashing the derby cars! Spritle accelerated fastest because of the weight advantage going downhill, but the wing slowed him down more than he expected, allowing the others to gain ground! The 7 and 10 cars passed him up, but it was okay since he was still in contention to get through. As they approached the hairpin, though, Spritle was able to brake later than everyone and gain a lot of ground as the number 8 spun behind him! As they began their final descent, the 9 car passed him, putting Spritle's #6 out of contention! But Spritle got lucky because as they approached hay bales that were being used to indicate the chicane, the #9 cut the turn too close causing his right front wheel to collide with the hay, snapping it off and allowing Spritle to pass him and remain in the race!

" _Cars 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, and 10 make it to the big semi-final round!"_ the announcer said as Spritle got out of his car.

"That was something else, Speed!" Spritle said.

"It was! Good job, Spritle! But now comes the toughest heat of the race, only 2 of six cars from your semi-final will make it, so we gotta find out a new plan."

"New plan?" Spritle asked as he and Speed brought the car back up to the hilltop.

"Well, if the 9 didn't make that mistake you would've lost. You broke too hard into the turn."

"So what do I do, Speed?" Spritle asked as the next ten cars had their races.

"Well, the wing gives you more leverage, it's basically using the air to slow you down, you know that. So just be lighter on the brakes before you hit the corner and then just let gravity do the rest." Speed said as they made it to the top of the hill with the six remaining racers from the first group.

"Hey, Spritle!" One kid called out.

Spritle looked over and sighed, "What is it, Summer?" Spritle asked. Summer Kidd was a nasty girl in Spritle's class who regularly picked on him, she drove the #1 car in the derby.

"How is your car not illegal?" she asked, pointing at the derby car.

"We really pushed the boundaries with the rules. We didn't break any, though. Maybe it's because my Pops and Speed are just better than you and your dad at building cars!" Spritle boasted.

"That may be true, but are you a better driver than me?" Summer taunted.

"You bet I am!" Spritle protested, "I drove Prince Jam's junior formula car last year in a big race, and I have the best coach in the world!"

"I heard you crashed Prince Jam's car. Although, I'll take note that the World Champion has been coaching you." Summer said as she walked back to her #1 car, "Oh, Spritle!" she added, turning back to look at him with a smirk, "Try not to crash into me with that lumbering car, would you?"

"Oh, you bet, I'll smash you." Spritle growled under gritted teeth.

Speed put his hand on Spritle's shoulder, "She's messing with you. It's all mind games, she wants you to get mad and make a mistake, don't let that happen."

"Alright, I'll try not to be angry." Spritle said.

" _Cars 12, 13, 15, 16, 18, and 20 make it to the second semi-final! Cars 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, and 10 please line up at the gate!"_ The announcer said as all of the cars lined up in numerical order. The crowd comprised mostly of families cheered as the cars were locked in.

"Remember, don't give in, and brake lighter and later. Use the wing to your advantage." Speed said, helping Spritle buckle up.

"You got it, brother." Spritle said as his Mach 6 was lined up at the start. The flagman dropped the flag and the gates went down, the pack was almost even, but Spritle's weight pushed him way ahead again.

Speed ran down the hill, watching the race, but he saw something bad about to happen, four of the six cars were really bunching up, which could've ended up badly for Spritle and as the four cars passed Spritle as the hill began to flatten Speed shouted, "Spritle, brake now!"

"Huh?" Spritle was barely able to hear, but he heard Speed yelling 'brake' and when Spritle hit the brakes, cars 3, 4, 7, and 10 went four abreast into the corner and smashed together in the tight hairpin in spectacular fashion! Summer had no problems finishing first after that, and when Spritle saw a small gap, the Mach 6 derby car rolled slowly around the wreckage before catching the dip of the next hill. _"Darn! I haven't been able to win a race yet without being lucky!"_ Spritle thought to himself as he went through the fast left and right turns around the hay and through to the final.

" _The #1 and #6 cars move on to the four-car final!"_ The announcer said.

"Lucky finish, Spritle. You're also lucky Speed was there to help you, or you woulda crashed." Summer boasted, walking up to Spritle and Speed.

"Just you watch, Summer. There's one more left for us to go, and it's the only one I gotta win." Spritle said as he and Sped reset again. "Thanks, Speedy." Spritle appreciated.

"No problem, Spritle. But now, you know what you've gotta do, and that Summer girl is gonna race you real hard, I can tell. How'd you meet her anyway?"

"Well, it was kinda my fault, to be honest." Spritle admitted.

"Your fault?"

"Yeah. Chim Chim threw a 'cookie' in her hair and instead of saying sorry, I laughed at her. She's been pretty sore at me ever since."

Speed facepalmed, "Oh, Spritle."

"Look, she's been really mean to me since that day, so I don't feel like saying sorry!"

"You should, though. Trust me, enemies aren't worth it... especially when they're committed to making your life difficult."

"I guess… but not until after the race is over."

"Alright, just promise me that you will, okay?"

"I promise."

"Good boy." Speed smirked.

The announcer rang out again, _"Cars 13 and 16 will move on the final race against cars 1 and 6! Who will win the 38th Annual Snow Cap Derby! You'll just have to wait and find out after the intermission!"_

 **Chapter V:** The Final

As the Racers ate lunch during the intermission, Sparky motioned to Speed and Trixie over by a tree next to the derby tracks, "So, about the Mach 5-X…" he started, but Speed interrupted.

"I don't know, Sparky. Seriously, I don't know. The Stunt Car Grand Prix sounds too dangerous."

"Stunt Car Grand Prix?" Trixie butted into the conversation.

"Yeah, Pops and Sparky built a Mach 5 faster than the GRX so it can hit loops, corkscrews, and big jumps."

"What? That sounds too dangerous!" Trixie said.

"Whoa, it's not that simple! The winnings from this race will cover everyone for a very, very long time, and Speed is the only one with enough talent to control a car like the 5-X! Besides, we added special safety features so you don't get hurt and can escape trouble!"

Speed put his hands on his hips and looked to the ground in thought, "I don't you, you guys. I don't know. I'd have to drive the 5-X first to get a feel for how it is, and I'd have to see the track." Speed said.

" _The Final Race begins in 5 minutes, drivers to the gate, please!"_ the announcer said.

"I've got a lot of thinking to do, Sparky. That's all I can say right now."

"Okay, Speed. I understand." Sparky sighed as they made their way back to the hilltop where the race officials set up a ramp, escalating the slots in order to launch the cars faster. Further down the hill, past the left/right chicane, they set up a small ramp to try and get cars airborne before the finish.

Speed helped Spritle walk to Mach 6 up the ramp, "Golly, Speed, I didn't expect the ramp and the jump at the bottom." Spritle said nervously.

"Don't worry about it Spritle… maybe the wing will help even more now, we'll have to see. Just remember what I said about the hairpin, get through that and you'll be just fine." Speed said as he and Spritle looked over at Summer's car, _"It's so light, I wonder if it can handle the jump at the end."_ Speed thought as the Mach 6 was locked into the starting gate. Spritle let out a deep breath, "I know that feeling…" Speed chuckled, "...just keep your head in the game and you'll win, Spritle. Show these kids what the Racers are made of." he encouraged before leaving the ramp and joining the crowd below.

" _Welcome to the end of the 38th Annual Snow Cap Derby! Your finalists are Summer Kidd in the #1, she's the reigning champion of this race and she's not gonna start backing down now! Spritle Racer in the #6, Spritle is the 3rd of Pops Racer's sons to enter the Derby, will he also be the 3rd son to win the race? #13 of Burt Wheeler jr., Burt's father races in GTE Le Mans Series competition and is here to make his father proud! Last but not least is #16 driven by Maddy Fast, Maddy has never had any family in racing and plans to be her family's first generation driver! Alright, drivers, are you ready?"_ The flagman raised the green flag, _"3...2...1…...GO!"_ the announcer called as the gate dropped, releasing the finalists!

Spritle, in the front-heavy Mach 6 was down the ramp and onto the hill in no-time as the other soap-box cars needed more time to catch up. Being the all-around faster car, Summer reached Spritle in no-time! Spritle tried to block her as the turn was coming up, but she went to the left of him. _"Now for my little secret."_ Summer grinned as she reached for a bar located beside her, it was a manual handbrake to help her turn faster, but she knew that if Spritle got his braking correct, he'd pass her regardless… that or they would both crash.

The four cars approached the turn, and Spritle got his braking exactly right, but he was pushed out of line by Summer who was able to pass below him, and as she made her turn, she used her handbrake, forcing her car to go slightly sideways, not allowing Spritle any chance to pass her up, as well as bunching Spritle up with Burt jr. and Maddy! Summer made sure she got her car straight on the exit and began to go down the last part of the hill, she thought she had it won, but Spritle was on her again as soon as gravity took over and his weight was an advantage again! Through the left/right chicane they went, Summer had to slightly apply brakes, but for Spritle, the wing was doing everything for him as he caught up with her and they approached the jump!

" _Spritle and Summer are side-by-side coming to the jump! Look at how close they are, will they crash?!"_ The announcer hyped up the crowd but the families held their breath, Summer's wheel was almost touching the Mach 6, she got as close to Spritle as possible to rattle his cage, but Spritle was a tough kid, he's seen Speed race really dangerous people, and even he had fought fully grown men before and won; so Summer's attempt to intimidate him didn't work at all as they approached the jump! Spritle was just ahead to where Summer's front-right wheel was almost touching Spritle's left-rear until they hit the ramp! The suddenness in which they went airborne, jostled Summer's car too far to the right as it clipped Spritle's wing, cracking it loose and sending Summer's car out of control as it launched so far forward, that all of her car's wheels snapped upon landing! Thanks to Spritle's wing, he wasn't in the air for very long before landing with a ***CLUD*** and continuing unchallenged across the finish line followed by Burt and Maddy!

" _He's done it, folks! Spritle Racer wins the Snow Cap Derby!"_ Spritle hit the brakes hard and swung the Mach 6 to the right, doing a Racer powerslide, something his brother and even Rex have done after big wins. He unbuckled his belt and there was Speed and company, Speed lifted Spritle in the air and placed him on his shoulders!

"Alright, Spritle! Go, Spritle!" they cheered as they brought Spritle over to the podium, where Spritle was awarded a gold medal and a trophy for his win in the Snow Cap Derby. Spritle looked over and saw Summer, dejected, dragging her derby car to a trailer with her father as they both left. This made the win more bittersweet than anything, but it didn't have to be that way, and Spritle was gonna fix it.

 **Chapter VI:** The Hardest Part

After the group got home from having a celebratory dinner, Spritle looked over and said, "I'll be right back, everyone."

"But Spritle, it's late!" Mom said.

"I know, mom. But I'll be back, I promise!" he said.

Speed leaned over to his mom and whispered the reason in her ear and she smiled, "Well, alright. Just come home right after." she said.

"Thanks, mom!" Spritle acknowledged as he went down the street to Summer's house where the garage was open and he saw Summer sulking in front of her broken derby car.

She looked over and saw Spritle with his hands clasped in front of him she wiped away a tear, "Why're **you** here? To rub in your win? Go away!"

"No, I wanted to say that I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"I'm sorry for what Chim Chim did, and I'm sorry I didn't apologize sooner. I didn't mean to laugh at you when it happened, I was mean."

Shocked by the sudden apology, Summer thought of what to say, "It made me really mad that day. The other girls pushed me around for weeks afterward."

"I didn't know… I didn't think about that."

"But when I started to try and get revenge on you, you didn't even want to say sorry anymore, is that it?"

"Yeah… but Speed told me that if I didn't apologize soon, then nothing would ever get better."

"He's probably right." she said.

"Can I make it up to you in some way, I'm tired of arguing. I don't want any enemies, I don't think you do, either."

Summer thought again, "I wanna drive your Mach 6 down the hill, and I want you to help me redesign my car so it can do what yours could. It was so light, that there was no way it wasn't going to break upon landing."

Spritle's face lit up, "Sure!" then he looked over to Summer's car, "...and I think I know exactly what this needs." Summer got up and she and Spritle shook hands, agreeing upon a partnership, and maybe someday, even a friendship. But that's a story for another time. Right now, though, we have to question… what's Speed's decision going to be on the Mach 5-X and the Stunt Car Grand Prix? Find out in Part 1 of the next 2-part adventure of… Speed Racer!


	12. The Stunt Car Grand Prix (Part 1)

Speed Racer: The Stunt Car Grand Prix (Part 1)

 **[Intro Music]**

 **Chapter I:** The Meeting

A month after the Snow Cap Derby, Speed, Pops, and Sparky all sat around a table in the Racer family's garage, the all new Mach 5-X sitting in the background. The old-school Le Mans clock on the wall, audibly ticking away as each man collected their emotions and thoughts, Speed had his elbows on the table, hands clasped together in front of his mouth, contemplating the best thing to say and Pops was doing the same. Sparky was resting his head in his hand as the young mechanic and engineer-in-training was awaiting a response from one of the Racers.

Speed looked over to Pops, "How bad is the situation?"

"The rebuild of the Mach 5 has us almost bankrupt, we have had to use much of your winnings towards maintenance and repairs. I've hardly had enough to pay You, Sparky and Trixie."

"But you had the money to build that?" Speed pointed to the Mach 5-X.

"No."

"So what you're saying is that we're in debt? What about that spiel about the 'ultimate racing machine' that you gave me?"

"I—I was trying to persuade you, Speed. I didn't think that it would take this much persuading, to be honest."

"How much is the purse for winning?"

"One-Hundred-Million." Pops answered. All of their eyes widened as each man looked towards the Mach 5-X. The winnings from the Diamond Super Prix would surely put them in the green forever.

" _This was my fault to begin with… if I didn't wreck the Mach 5, forcing Pops and Sparky to rebuild from scratch, we wouldn't be here."_ Speed thought.

" _I hope Speed doesn't think I'm guilt tripping him… but this race is necessary for us after the Mach 5's rebuild and especially after its extensive repairs from the last race in Africa."_ Pops worried.

" _Please do the race, Speed. I can't keep taking pay cuts and working harder to keep the Mach 5 in-shape… I don't want to leave the GO Team or Mifune Motors..."_ Sparky pondered, a drop of sweat rolling down his face.

Speed closed his eyes and took a deep breath before looking back at the Mach 5-X then to Pops and Sparky, "Fine. I'll do it." He answered.

Pops slowly got up from his seat, "Thank you, Speed. We'll proceed with planning tomorrow, first thing in the morning, you too, Sparky."

"Okay, Pops. I'll be here, don't you worry." Sparky replied as Pops left into the house, Sparky looked over at his friend, "What's the matter, Speed? I'm just as surprised as Pops that you weren't all over this race."

"It's because of the car, Sparky."

"I'm not sure what you mean by that."

"We're small time, Sparky. A small team, and a small company. That car is perhaps the most advanced ever conceived and is surely the most advanced ever created and what for? One race? It's a one-off, it was built for a race that will probably be only run once a year or perhaps never again, and everyone assumed I'd be all into without knowing anything about it. That's expensive, too expensive."

"But the money…"

"I get where Pops is coming from, but it would've been great to know first. Even worse I feel like I'm at fault for all of this, I basically destroyed the Mach 5, forced your guys' hands. This race… that car has become my responsibility…" Speed got up from his seat, "…I'll see you tomorrow, Sparky. Yeah?"

"Yeah… sure thing, Speed."

 **Chapter II:** Preparation

Pops' flatbed was parked outside of the garage, ready to pick up the Mach 5-X and take it to Thunderhead for some light training around a track Speed was very familiar with. Speed pulled on his brown-mustard leather driving gloves and grabbed the car, leaping into its center-mounted seat, he looked upon the steering wheel and was immediately confused, there weren't the seven buttons like on the Mach 5, there were buttons, dials, and switches and there wasn't a clutch or a stick to shift with. "Uhhh, Pops? How do I turn this thing on?"

"Oh! Sorry, Speed, that's some new technology, I'll explain… Sparky, come over here and start the car!" Pops called as he walked over to the cockpit. "Watch, Speed." He said before standing back.

Sparky took a motorized crank and stuck it in the rear-underside of the Mach 5-X, connecting it to the engine, the crank went faster and faster as lights popped up on the Mach 5-X's rectangular steering wheel, "Hit the G-Button, Speed!" Sparky called.

"Here it goes!" Speed called back, pressing the G-Button, still situated I the middle of the wheel, the car rumbled and roared to life, spitting out flames from the yellow-painted rectangular vents on the side of the car, Speed's heart jumped and began to race as Sparky took the crank out of the car. Pops and Sparky went behind the car and pushed it onto the flatbed, Pops remained with Speed as Sparky raised the bed horizontally on the car, Pops reached in and grabbed a ring where the wheel was connected to the steering shaft and pulled it, turning off the car and disconnecting the steering wheel. "Golly…" Speed exhaled.

"Intense, huh?" Pops said, taking the starter crank from Sparky and strapping it to the flatbed, "Let's go in the truck, Speed. All will be explained when we meet up with Trixie."

Only a few minutes later, Trixie waited next to her yellow Mercedes drop top next to their usual garage as the flatbed pulled in, _"Wow…"_ she thought to herself, never having seen the Mach 5-X in person before. As Pops and Sparky unloaded the insane machine, Trixie went to the trunk of her car and waved to Speed, "Hey, Speed! Over here, I've got something for you!"

"Hmm? What is it?" Speed asked as he walked over as Trixie pulled out a bundle of clothes, she unraveled it, revealing a white and blue one-piece racing suit, the collar was colored red, a golden "G" was emblazoned on the left side over the chest and on the right there was the signature red "M". "Whoa, this is great, Trixie!" Speed thanked.

"Oh, that's not all, I also got you these white pilot shoes and these gloves and socks…" Trixie pulled out a pair of mustard-yellow gloves and red socks, "...they're all made out of something called 'Nomex' state-of-the-art fireproof stuff!"

"Trixie… where'd you afford all of this gear? It had to have been a fortune!"

"Leave that for me to worry about..." Trixie pushed the new gear into Speed's arms, "...go ahead! Try them on!" she pushed Speed towards the dressing room.

Pops and Sparky pushed the Mach 5-X into the pit box and they continued to set up their garage, making sure they had enough of everything for the day, "Trixie, did you remember the new helmet?" Pops asked.

"Yep! I was just waiting for him to get dressed." Trixie grabbed a white and blue duffle bag.

"Now where'd you get that?!" Sparky asked.

"Oh, I made the bag myself." Trixie smiled proudly as the door to the garage unlocked and out-stepped Speed in his new racing gear.

"Alright! Now you look like a pro!" Sparky said as speed walked over.

"Where do I put these?" Speed said, Trixie took his clothes and put them in the bag, but pulled out another smaller bag that had "Speed Racer" neatly stitched in red string. "What…" Speed unzipped the bag to find a bizarre helmet, pretty much the exact opposite from the one he wore normally. It was still open-face, but the front was angular and came to a sharp tip with a red "M" painted onto it, the rest of the helmet was white with red designs around it but most bizarre of all was its wrap-around green visor. "...gee, what is it? My birthday or something?" Speed said surrounded by all of this really nice, new gear.

"This is everything you'll need to win the race, Speed. The helmet is so sharp because even the drivers need to be aerodynamic in this race." Pops informed.

"The car's ready, Speed! Hop in!"

"Okay…" Speed sank into the cockpit of the car, Trixie helped Speed with the new safety harnesses as Pops filled him in.

"Okay, Speed. You were confused about the steering wheel, most of these buttons and dials you won't need to worry about, Sparky and I will set them before the race. But as you may have noticed, some features from the Mach 5 remain, most importantly the Deflector, in-case of a really bad crash. The auto-jacks are different, in this car, the side-mounted exhausts will blast you in the air and mini-wings will deploy to help you get over gaps or avoid crashes, in this car, they're called 'aero-jacks'. The grip tires are still here and work the same way as well. If we need you to change any of the dials during the race, I will let you know. Now, be careful, this is now the most powerful car ever made so take it slow." Pops said, handing Speed the steering wheel.

Speed connected the wheel to the shaft before looking at Pops, "Hey, you forgot to tell me how the gears work!"

"Oh! Right. Behind the steering wheel, there are four paddles, two small ones, and two big ones. When Sparky starts the car, it'll be in neutral, all you have to do is hold the two small paddles, that's your clutch. Once holding them, the car will automatically switch into first gear. Match the revs and let go of the small paddles and you're good to go! The big paddles are upshift and downshift, it's super-fast and easy."

Speed gave a sigh of relief, "Alright, good to know. I'm ready." he informed.

Pops stood back and gave everyone ear protection, Sparky grabbed the crank and stood by, "Start her up, Sparky!" Pops ordered.

Sparky gave a thumbs up and put in the crank, turning the engine over, "Now, Speed!"

"Alright, here it goes!" Speed pressed the "G" Button and the car roared back to life. Speed pressed on the break, pressed the clutch paddles, and pressed on the gas, letting the revs build higher and higher and when Speed felt the car hit its sweet spot, he let go of the clutch, stepped off of the brake and unleashed the Mach 5-X on Thunderhead's hallowed tarmac! The car caught the road and launched like a jet being flung from an aircraft carrier! " _Oh my God!_ " Speed thought as he was pushed further into his seat, pressing on the right paddle to shift up and up again as he took the first turn flat out, he shifted up into fourth and then fifth, the engine felt it was going to go forever as he broke for turn 2, every response was immediate. " _This is insanity!_ " he thought as he went around the hairpin. The car wouldn't fuss or slide around the track, it was as if it was a part of the racing surface as Speed approached the last banked turns where he was really able to unleash the Mach 5-X's power fifth gear, sixth, seventh… " _It just keeps going!_ " he thought as he blazed across the finish line at speeds in excess of 230 miles per hour as he went in for his first timed lap!

"It's incredible!" Trixie exclaimed.

"Mmhmm…" Pops nodded, grinning with his arms folded, "...the Mach 5-X is easily my magnum opus, I'm not sure I could imagine something more extreme if I tried."

" _This is next level…_ " Speed thought as he made his way around the course even faster than before, only using his brakes on the entry of the hairpin, going back into the power a little before the middle of the turn and shooting out of the exit! Again he never stepped foot on the brakes as he entered the banked turn as 250mph became 260 as he exited the turn!

"Holy crap, here he comes!" Sparky shouted.

"Language, Sparky!" Pops scolded.

"Sorry Pops, but seriously…" Speed crossed the line as Sparky clicked his stopwatch, "...I don't think this track record is ever gonna be beaten!" Sparky wrote the time down on a notepad and showed it to Pops.

"One Minute on the dot!" Pops shouted in disbelief.

"The perfect lap!" Trixie cheered as Speed made his way back around the track and into the pits, the GO Team surrounded the car, Speed put the car into neutral as the Mach 5-X was pushed back into the garage.

Pops leaned into the cockpit and disconnected the wheel, turning off the car, "That was amazing, Speed! How'd you feel out there?"

Speed took off his helmet as Trixie undid the harness, "I've never felt anything like it, Pops! The car didn't slide or lock up… nothing went wrong out there, I could go flat out through most of the track!"

"How fast were you going when you finished your timed lap?" Sparky asked.

"Oh… it had to be around 265, why?"

"You set the lap record at one minute flat! Now you set the speed record too!"

"It was amazing to watch, Speed. I think you'll do great in the race." Trixie said as a group of suited men walked into the garage.

"I think so, too!" one of the men said, he wore half-framed glasses as a grey/silver three-piece suit, the buttons made of diamonds.

"Mr. Diamond!" Pops exclaimed, rubbing his hands off on a clean rag and rushing up to meet him, "I'm honored to meet you, sir."

Sal Diamond shook Pops' hand, "Likewise, Mr. Racer. I see your team has been testing your Super Prix car."

"That's right and you can call me Pops, this is my mechanic, Sparky, our rally navigator, Trixie, and…"

"Speed Racer, the resident World Champion!" Mr. Diamond announced as he shook Speed's hand, as Speed left the Mach 5-X's cockpit.

"I'm pleased to meet you, sir."

"The honor is mine, Speed. Tell me, how does a Super Prix car feel around an average race track?"

Speed sat on a folding chair, wiping his brow with a cold cloth, "It makes it feel like I'm driving a Formula 1 on a Go-Kart circuit. Honestly, I'm not surprised we broke every record in one lap, I hardly had to lift."

"That's what I like to hear!" Mr. Diamond laughed.

"If you don't mind me asking, how come you made your way here to our little test track?" Pops inquired.

"I've come to take your team and car to the Diamond Super Prix circuit!"

"Really? We were going to drive downstate to the track."

"Don't worry, your trip to LA is on me. I've got a helicopter big enough to fit your car. What do you call it?"

"The Mach 5-X." Pops announced proudly.

"Excellent!" Diamond responded, "Now, Pops and Sparky, as the team's engineer and mechanic, could you accompany my men as they load the Mach 5-X? I will take Speed and Ms. Trixie to the on-site hotel."

"There's an on-site hotel? That sounds wonderful." Trixie said.

"Yeah, that's pretty groovy, Mr. Diamond. But, what about extra clothes?" Speed asked.

Diamond chuckled, "No need to worry about those, we'll take care of it."

Speed and Trixie looked at each other and shrugged as Pops handed Speed his duffle bag, "Don't forget this son, you two behave."

"We will, Pops." Speed said as he and Trixie followed Mr. Diamond to his helicopter that was waiting atop Thunderhead's main complex.

 **Chapter III:** First Class

The helicopter rotors chopped through the air as the group was flown to LA, "We'll arrive soon, you two so I'm going to tell you about the plan we have for you when we land."

"Plan?" Speed asked.

"Indeed. Once we land, my assistant will take your sizes and bring you some casual wear, you know, a little something to advertise the race and the idea of the Super Prix."

"Understandable." Trixie said.

"You will then have a little tour of our on and off-track facilities and finally be shown your room where your new complementary clothes will be waiting for you."

"That sounds amazing, Mr. Diamond. Thank you for this opportunity." Speed said.

"You can thank me by putting on a great race, Speed." Diamond replied.

"You won't have to worry about that." Speed ensured.

Mr. Diamond laughed, "I suppose not!"

"We are now over Diamond Super Circuit." The pilot announced as they went over to the window.

"Oh wow." Speed blurted in awe of the track that was so complex that he couldn't wrap his head around it at any angle. There were loops, raises, dips, and corkscrews, the track was bizarre, abstract, and Speed couldn't wait to drive on it.

"I can tell that you're itching to race the Mach 5-X on it."

"I am, sir. I'm gonna be out there as soon as it's open for practice!"

"Very good, Speed!" Mr. Diamond smiled as the helicopter landed on its pad atop the hotel situated outside of the track, "Come, let's get your measurements and tour done with!" Mr. Diamond led them downstairs and to the penthouse area, "This is my penthouse, welcome!" The penthouse had a single huge window looking out at the track, an indoor pool, and a large space used for lounging and parties, Speed and Trixie looked in awe as a woman wearing a silver dress with diamond buttons walked up to them.

"Hello, Mr. Diamond."

"Ah, yes. Hello, Patty! Speed, Trixie, this is my assistant, Patty."

"Pleased to meet you." Speed and Trixie greeted, shaking her hand as she took a soft tape measure.

"I am honored. Now, I shall take your measurements, we have much to do today!" Patty rushed as she measured both Speed and Trixie.

"Wow, this is really the star treatment." Trixie commented.

"First class as always, my dear. Nothing wrong with being excessive when you have enough money for yourself and those you help." Mr. Diamond replied.

"Done! Your new clothes will be in your room when you finish your tour" Patty announced before quickly scurrying away.

"She's quite the busy body." Speed said.

"She's the best personal assistant in the world." Mr. Diamond said before leading the two to an elevator that took them to the ground floor, "This is the lobby. From here you can get access to the pool out back and even to the shuttle leading to the track." The tour continues as he led them up some stairs, "We even have a small diner, bar, and a bowling alley on the second floor, and a 5-Star Restaurant where all teams and drivers will meet for a complimentary dinner tonight before the race on Sunday."

As they were finishing up their tour, Speed and Trixie saw a familiar face walking through the lobby, "Lovelace!" Speed called out.

"Hey, Speed! Hey, Trixie!" the two groups joined in the middle of the lobby. "Speed, Trixie, this is my father, Johan Goldminter."

"Pleased to meet you again, Mr. Goldminter." Speed greeted.

"An interesting fact, Speed, Mr. Goldminter is the top investor in the Diamond Super Circuit and Hotel." Mr. Diamond pointed out.

"Whoa, so this is a really tightly-knit deal, huh?"

"Indeed it is, Speed. Well, Johan is here because he and I have some business to talk about, Patty should be here really soon to bring you to your rooms."

Speed and Trixie nodded, "Alright."

"Stay here, Lovelace, I'll be back in a moment." Johan said as he and Mr. Diamond went into an elevator.

 **Chapter IV:** The Newest Most Secret Plan

The elevator went down to a sublevel with Sal and Johan inside, "Nice to see Lovelace is joining." Sal said.

"Of course! She loves racing and as long as I have the funds, she'll continue racing. Especially after winning in Africa."

"But now to business, Johan. We need to stop Mifune Motors and the GO Team."

"Remind me why we're doing this again." The elevator doors opened to a large control room with screens and keyboards, switches and levers, each screen was pointing at very specific parts of the track.

"Mifune Motors is standing in the way. They keep proving time and time again that an independent team can rise to the challenge of big companies. Big companies with so much money and yet a car and engine designed by one man, and built by that one man with the assistance of some grease monkey kid manages to take teams like Ferrari, Mercedes, Ford, Lotus, Porsche, etc. and hand them their asses! Not only that, but some eighteen-year-old kid can beat the likes of legends like Racer X and Captain Terror's entire Car Acrobatic Team! How is that possible?!"

"I believe he's nineteen now."

"I don't care! The point is he must be cheating! It's ruining motorsport as we know it!"

"But where's the proof?"

"There isn't any. Not yet."

"You mean to tell me that you tried to kill the boy over a hunch?!"

Diamond walked over to a console and pressed a button, and a large barricade lifted from the track, "Yes, and I'll try again, too! I have several traps, tricks, and obstacles hidden around the track to stop the Mach 5-X!"

"You're wacky!"

"No!" Diamond slammed the console, causing Mr. Goldminter to jump a little bit, "I'm trying to save this sport! Silver and Bronze are with me, why can't you be?"

"Because Speed Racer is a good young man, you just have to know him better… hey… where are Silver and Bronze anyway?"

Diamond cackled, "Why they're in the race tomorrow and they'll be ready to out-cheat the GO Team to put their cheating ways to rest! Why? Why aren't you with me like you were before?!"

"Because before I was sure he was cheating! After winning the World Championship despite all of the grief he went through, beating the Mammoth Car despite that scandal, defeating our Buzz-Drones and CarZilla in Africa this year… I thought that he must be cheating until I had spies look in on them. They're just an average family aside from all of Speed's misadventures."

"That's just it! Some kid gets into all this trouble and is called a 'hero' by everyone and their grandmother! How does some teen like him find all of these shady people and how does he end up beating them? It makes no sense! He has to be in on everything… the Racer family aren't just cheaters… they're criminals!"

"What?! How can you back up such a claim?"

"Just you wait, Johan… just you wait." Diamond muttered.

 **Chapter V:** Trouble

*ding …ding...ding* sounded a machine in the hotel's driver's only gym room. It had light-up buttons set up on a frame that would light up randomly, Speed stood in front of it and pressed each button that lit up as fast as he could, "This thing is way better than the tennis ball launchers back home." Speed commented on the reflex-testing machine.

"Glad you like it, can we go to our room now?" Trixie pushed.

"Okay, okay." Speed laughed, but as they were about to leave, in walked…"Racer X!" Speed and Trixie exclaimed simultaneously.

Racer X grinned, "Good to see you two again."

"Why're you here?" Speed asked.

"To warn you, Speed."

"Not this again. Listen, Rex, I won the world championship, I've faced gangsters and terrorists, I think I can handle this." Speed folded his arms.

"I'm not worried about the track or the car, Speed. I've been investigating Sal Diamond."

Trixie looked around, "Maybe we should take this to the room, this place is too public to talk about something so sensitive."

"You're right, Trixie. Let's go up to your room." Racer X agreed as the three made their ways up to Speed and Trixie's hotel room.

"Alright, so what's going on?" Speed asked impatiently.

"I've been working closely with Inspector Detector and the CIB. We think Mr. Diamond is up to something."

"I mean, he's been harsh in criticizing me in the past. But everyone has their critics."

"True, even I've had my fair share. But think about it, why would he invite his least favorite driver to this revolutionary kind of race?"

Speed grinned cockily, clasping his hands behind his head, "Well, even the harshest of critics have to see the skill of the one they're criticizing."

"This is turning out to be much more than that, Speed. Don't get a big head."

"Why shouldn't I? So far all of this has been speculation."

"Remember the re-emergence of the Mach 2?"

"That couldn't have been Mr. Diamond! The news said it was a completely different guy!"

"It was Mr. Diamond's plan to stop you at the Grand Prix of Prague, Speed. He was the one that bought the Mach 2 off of the man who bought it off Pops and then sold it off to Clande Shorthand in order to have you injured or killed. But when he failed, he ordered a hit on him. I saw it with my own eyes, there was Trick Idler and this girl there… Wendy was her name. They're a part of the new Three Roses Club and they want you gone for good." Knocks came at the door, "I'll see you later, Speed." Racer X said before opening the door to Pops.

"Rex?!" Racer X went silent as he quickly shuffled past and made his way to the elevator, "Rex..." Pops said quieter before looking to Speed and Trixie, "Why was he here?"

"There's trouble." Speed said.

"Tell me on the way, the track just opened for free practice and Sparky is waiting in our assigned garage with the Mach 5-X." Pops said as the group followed him down to the super circuit.

 **Chapter VI:** FP1

As they reached the entrance to the garages, the few other competitors and their teams stood, waiting for Mr. Diamond to address them; even Sparky was chased out and told to wait. "Hey, what's all this? What's going on, Sparky?" Pops asked confused as he looked at the others also waiting around.

"I dunno, I was just checking if everything on the Mach 5-X was in order and they kicked me out of the garage, looks like they did the same to everyone else!" As Sparky explained this, Mr. Diamond walked to the front to address the teams.

"Alright everyone, settle down and allow me to explain. The reason you were told to wait here was so I could announce a big twist… instead of three free practice sessions, you get only one, as for qualifying, there won't be one, you will be randomly placed on the small grid before the race… good luck." Mr. Diamond said as the garage was unlocked behind him and teams flocked to their cars.

"What's this slapped together rule set? No prep, no drivers meeting?" Speed asked.

"I dunno, Speed. I really wish I could tell ya." Sparky said as Speed rushed to get his fire suit and helmet on as he jumped into the cockpit of the Mach 5-X. "Catch!" Sparky said, tossing the wheel into the cockpit, Speed catching it with one hand and connecting it to the car.

"I got the crank, Sparky!" Pops shouted, putting the crank into the car and starting it up.

"Alright, your harnesses are all set!" Trixie said, quickly stepping back.

"Here I go!" Speed shouted, pressing and holding the G Button, bringing the car to life as he quickly exited the garage, driving out to the track! The acceleration was nearly instant as the Mach 5-X blasted down the straightaway and to the first corner which was a loop which was made to truly show how insane this race was going to be, " _I'm not sure I can make that… but I've gotta trust Pops and Sparky._ " Speed thought as he gunned the Mach 5-X as the car drove up and up until before he knew it, Speed was upside-down and somehow the car was traveling so fast, he didn't fall off! He turned the wheel ever so slightly to make sure he stayed on course, the nose of the car was pointing back down as Speed completed what was only the first turn of the course!

"Holy cow!" Sparky said in awe.

"I'm not even sure how I'm gonna relay information back to Speed, this is insane." Pops added.

"Look!" Trixie pointed as Lovelace, Silver, and Bronze's cars passed by. Their attentions were taken by the other six racers that had just arrived expressing their anger about the mess that was the race weekend.

"Hmm, so it's going to be a very small grid. Only ten drivers are going to be involved." Pops thought aloud.

"It won't be easy though, look!" Sparky pointed to a monitor.

" _Here goes nothing._ " Speed had gone through a slaloming section of the track and was now faced with a huge jump. He stepped on the gas and pressed the A Button, the exhaust panels flashed with flames before becoming jets, blasting the Mach 5-X off the edge of the jump and as the Mach 5-X became airborne, the car deployed glider wings to stabilize it and allow the car to make it an extra-long distance, before the retracted back under the vehicle, allowing the Mach 5-X to land safely on the other side, where a massive banked corner awaited.

"Alright, Speed!" Sparky shouted, pumping his fists as Speed went onto a long corkscrew section that had him driving upside-down in a straight-line for a time before going right-side up again, followed by a spiraling segment that saw Speed driving upward, higher and higher, the track became more flat, forcing Speed to drift out and take the turn almost sideways before coming to the crest of the turn 20 stories up and going along and winding corkscrew.

" _Oh man, that's a huge drop!_ " Speed thought as the Mach 5-X was suddenly driving down a massive incline that dropped him all 20 stories down! The g-force was so incredible, it brought Speed to the very edge of blacking out as the drop evened-out on the ground, having the cars do one last jump before coming onto the main straight and crossing the Start/Finish line! Speed slowed down dramatically and drove to the pits, going right to his garage.

"Speed, are you alright?" Trixie asked, running up to him.

Speed leaned his head back and closed his eyes, "I need some water."

"I'll get it!" Pops said, running to the nearest water cooler and grabbing two cups.

"I wasn't ready for that… I wasn't ready for that at all." Speed said as Mr. Diamond looked on from his screen, spying on the GO Team.

Mr. Diamond rubbed his hands together, chuckling to himself, "Well, well, well. Speed Racer seems to have run out of talent."

"Then he'll definitely have trouble against me." Patty walked up behind him.

"You surely will. You are a very talented actress as well, I'm pleasantly surprised, Wendy."

Wendy smiled, "I'm not much of an assistant, but I'm one hell of a 3 Roses Member, Mr. Diamond."

"That you are, I wonder where that idiot Trick Idler found you. But no matter, prepare for tomorrow's race… you have to be there in case everything goes wrong with Silver and Bronze since Goldminter is out there for herself."

"Of course, boss." Wendy said as Mr. Diamond smiled devilishly, looking out upon his track where the other competitors practiced.

 _Will Mr. Diamond succeed in destroying Speed Racer and the rest of the GO Team? Will Wendy have to play her part, or will the various traps combined with the malicious Mr. Silver and Mr. Bronze be the end of Speed? Will it all be too much? Find out on the next episode of, Speed Racer!_

 **[Outro Music]**

 **Author's note:** Hey everybody, thanks for reading this newest installment of Speed Racer and sorry it took so long to release. I was working on my very first novel, Special Defense Unit, which is now on Amazon in paperback and for Kindle, it's a superhero novel and if superheroes are your thing, I'd be very grateful if you gave it a look. I don't know when the conclusion to this will be, but I'm trying to work with a new schedule since I've recently begun work on my second novel. I'm thinkin' of working on this every Friday as a warm-up and doing work on my novels over the weekend. But we'll see, Stay Tuned for next time, though! Thanks for reading!


	13. The Stunt Car Grand Prix (Part 2)

Speed Racer: The Stunt Car Grand Prix (Part 2)

 **[Intro Music]**

 **Chapter I:** Anxiety

The side-exhausts of the Mach 5-X crackled and echoed, flames shooting out of the pipes, and exploding with malice. Speed's mouth was dry, sweat dripping down his face, his hands tightening around the wheel as the powerful car rattled his bones. His mouth was motionless, his blue eyes laser-focused on the road ahead. Despite his stoic outward appearance, his core tightened as it filled with butterflies and his heart pounded so hard, he could feel it throughout his chest. He looked up at the lights, 1 red light, 2, 3, 4, 5, he matched his revs just right as the 5 lights went out and he grit his teeth, mashing the gas. The car accelerated with such force that he was jarred awake in bed! His sweat was cold, his breath heavy as he looked next to him and saw Trixie who was fast asleep.

" _I can't shake that bad feeling._ " Speed thought as he looked at the clock, " _Almost 5 am… might as well get up now._ " Speed sighed, slowly getting out of bed. He grabbed the hotel's robes and went into the shower, " _Do I not speak up enough? Do I just let myself get carried into these things?_ " Speed has been troubled since the other day when he, Pops, and Sparky sat around the table in their garage. The way Pops thrust the Mach 5-X upon him left a bad taste in his mouth, perhaps he just wasn't assertive enough. Was he assertive at all? Speed sighed to himself as he turned off the shower, getting ready for the big day.

"Couldn't sleep, Speed?" Trixie asked, still lying in bed.

Speed sat on the edge of the expensive mattress, resting his forearms on his knees, "I dunno, Trixie."

"Hmmm, but you're always so sure about things. Is something the matter?"

"Yeah. I don't think I speak my mind enough."

"Huh?" Trixie asked, confused.

"Well, the Mach 5-X was just shoved on me, really. I didn't have a choice but to enter this race."

"Surely you would've entered anyway, you always jump at the chance at a new kind of racing."

"I do. But in this case, I was skeptical. I still am. I hate to say it, Trixie but my heart isn't in this one. I just didn't want to do it."

"Did you tell Pops?"

"I did, he didn't expect my answer either. The problem isn't the danger, Trixie. It's the cost of all of this. The Mach 5-X put Pops in the red, he's literally banking on me to win this race. A race on a track that has never been tested, and with cars that have never raced. This is… this is just too much pressure and if I had the choice, I would've declined Mr. Diamond's invitation."

"I'm very surprised, Speed. I didn't know you felt that way."

"It's okay, I don't expect you to be a mind reader. There's just something… off about this, it's fishy. I don't trust Mr. Diamond or his company. Maybe that's Rex rubbing off on me, but it's true."

"I'm sure Rex will have your back. You won't have to worry."

"I hope so." Speed sighed.

Meanwhile, outside of the track, sat Racer X in an inconspicuous car, "Racer X to Inspector Detector, come in."

"You're coming in loud and clear, Racer X. What've you found?"

"After walking around the building yesterday, the only thing I have to say is that I'm very suspicious."

"That's not enough to investigate, Rex."

"I know, I can't put my finger on it. There are cameras everywhere, and Mr. Diamond's PA looks very familiar, I just can't put my finger on where I've seen her before. The most suspicious thing was that there's a lower level to the building that I can't access with my CIB card."

"The Omni-scanner might not work if it's new tech that Mr. Diamond's got in there and he most likely does."

I-I know." Racer X sighed.

"Rex, I get that you're worried about Speed and through our experiences the rich haven't been good to your family. But I'm sorry to say that you don't have enough evidence to push for a full investigation of Mr. Diamond or the race. I'd suggest you just go to the race tomorrow and enjoy it, support Speed and Pops."

Racer X placed his index finger and thumb on the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes, "I… understand, Inspector."

"Good. Now return the undercover car so you can pick up the Shooting Star and go to the race."

"Yes, Inspector. Talk to you later."

"Stay well, Rex." Inspector Detector said as he hung up.

" _Maybe I am a little too overbearing…_ " Racer X thought, turning the key in the car's ignition, _"...guess the best I can do now is support Speed. I've got to._ " Racer X then pressed on the gas and sped to the local CIB office to pick up his signature yellow car as dawn broke, the sun cresting over the horizon.

At the entrance, an army of press and racing fans gathered around as the drivers who were involved in the race were arriving, and stars and other famous drivers came to watch, "Look! It's Gray Ghost!" one child pointed out as a gray and white trailer passed by them.

"Amazing! Sonic Renaldi is here, too!" another fan shouted as a green and white trailer entered the garage.

"Denise Mobile!" a third, magenta and white trailer passed through the gates before they were closed. The trucks made their way underground before emerging on the other side, on their ways to the garage where they stopped to unload as Speed, Lovelace, Wendy, Silver, and Bronze already being there.

"Alright, looks like all 9 racers are here, Speed!" Sparky said.

"I'll be right back, Sparky."

"Okay." Sparky waved as Sped got up and walked down to the other haulers as they unloaded their cars.

"Well, look who it is!" Gray Ghost walked up to Speed and shook his hand, "How're you doin', Speed?"

"I'm fine, Ghost. I'm glad to see you're in the race!" Speed said. He and the Gray Ghost have raced each other before on the open-wheel circuit as Denise walked up to him.

"Well, well, Speed Racer… I think you owe me a car?" Denise walked around him, checking out his new fire suit.

"Huh? Since when do I owe you a car?"

"The last time I was in a rally was the No Limit World Race this year… people trying to kill you put me out of contention."

"Oh… sorry but that's not my fault." Speed rubbed the back of his head.

"I'm sure she's just givin' you a hard time, Speedy." Ghost patted him on the back.

"Am I?" Denise grinned before returning to her hauler to prepare.

"Ahhh, it's gonna be fine." Ghost said as Speed focused on Sonic Renaldi coming out of his hauler.

"Sonic Renaldi, huh?"

"Yeah. What about him?"

"We've never raced before."

"Never?"

"No, he's always dropped out of every open-wheel race I've ever entered."

Gray Ghost put a hand on his chin, "Come to think of it, you're right. I race against him every week except for races you enter… I wonder why."

"I'm gonna find out." Speed started making his way to Sonic Renaldi who was talking with his team boss as Gray Ghost tagged along, perhaps to ease the situation.

"Well, look who it is, Speed Racer." Renaldi greeted. His posture was extreme, he stood up extremely straight with his hands clasped behind his back as he looking down his nose at everyone. Sonic was taller than an average racing driver so his presence was looming in more ways than one.

"I have a question for you, Renaldi."

"By all means, ask away."

"How come you've been avoiding me at every race?"

"That's simple. Because the odds of winning are almost impossible when you're around."

"Huh? What do you mean?"

"Look around, will you? Every time you're in a race there's trouble. Over half of the field crashes, just like when the Masked Racer is around!"

"Hey, it's not my or Racer X's fault those things happen! Do you think I want someone trying to kill me all the time?" Speed's attention was taken as Renaldi's dark green car was unloaded.

"What? Do you like it, I call her 'Chalk-Head' because, as you can see, all the equations used to create my, Gray, and Denice's specialty wheels are written on it."

"Specialty wheels?" Speed then looked at Gray Ghost and Denice's cars, noticing the strange frames that were covering their tires, "What are those?"

"These, Speed… are what we call the T-180. The wheels can turn 180-degrees to optimize maneuverability around this incredibly dangerous circuit. I don't expect you to understand the concept."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, Speed… let's just say you're not your father. You, Speed, are a driver and that's all you are. A part of the car. Me? I'm my own race boss. You're nothing more than a tool to push Pops' brilliance, really."

Speed tightened his fist, "I've had enough of your slights, Renaldi." but that's when Ghost put his hand on Speed's shoulder.

"Calm down, let's leave the fighting on the track." Gray Ghost then looked up at the Italian, "Watch your mouth, Renaldi. Our teams may have been partners in making the T-180, but we're far from teammates."

"Indeed, Ghost. I suppose I'll see you on the track, I can't wait to beat you again." Renaldi said as Gray Ghost and Speed walked away.

"That went really well." Speed huffed.

"Sonic Renaldi is full of himself. Smart. But full of himself. Anyway, that's enough drama for me before the race, I'm gonna go to my hauler and I suggest you do the same. Good luck, Speed."

"Good luck, Ghost." Speed said, shaking hands and walking back to the garage with his hands in his fire suit pockets.

"So, you talk to everyone?" Sparky said, coming out from under the car.

"Yeah, Sonic Renaldi is a jerk."

"Uh-oh. That doesn't sound good."

"It wasn't. But I did learn that they're running new tech today. It's why those three didn't show up yesterday."

"What is it, Speed?"

"They're all new models called 'T-180'. The wheels spin 180 degrees so they can take turns as fast as possible."

"Oh wow… I hope my new upgrade can help that."

"New upgrade?"

"Yep." Sparky turned the steering wheel and all 4 wheels turned, "I gave the Mach 5-X 4-Wheel Steering!"

"Wow, that's brilliant, Sparky!"

"Thanks! The computer told me yesterday after your lap that there was too much understeer, so I did my best to fix the problem. Should turn on a dime now."

The door opened as Pops walked through, "Ready, Sparky? They're about to have the cars line up."

"Yep, it works!"

"Very good." Pops walked up to Speed and put his hands on his son's shoulders, "You ready, Speed?"

"As ready as I could be, Pops."

"I heard about the T-180 technology from the other team bosses. Don't worry yourself with that, just drive to the best of your ability, you still have the Safety 7 features that their cars will never have."

"Don't worry, Pops… I'll win."

"That's my boy. Now get strapped in." Pops patted Speed on the back. Speed held onto the smooth carbon fiber as he hopped into his red seat.

Trixie walked up and helped with Speed's elaborate harness, kissing his cheek when he was all strapped in, "You'd better win."

"I will." Speed smiled.

" **All drivers, please line up side-by-side at the starting line for the inaugural Diamond Super Prix!"** the announcer's voice rang out as all 9 cars started. Speed's being the loudest of them all.

He looked over at the T-180's barely making a sound, " _They have more going on than just the wheels._ " Speed thought as the 9 cars drove up to the line.

 **Chapter II:** The Diamond Super Prix

" **Welcome racing fans to the first-ever Super Prix, presented by the race's namesake himself, Sal Diamond! In today's race, from left to right on the starting line we have the #1 driven by the Trans-Africa Grand Prix Winner, Lovelace Goldminter!"**

"Thank you! Let's win this race, okay guys?" Lovelace said, waving from her cockpit.

" **The two cars next to her are part of Sal Diamond's own privateer racing team, they are the #20 of Mr. Delaware Silver and the #30 of Mr. Oliver Bronze!"**

Mr. Diamond's two crime partners smiled and waved as Sal came over their radios, "Remember, you two aren't here to win. You're here to help me take Racer out for good."

" **Next up is a member of Trick Idler's Three Roses club, a girl only known as Wendy and ss far as we know this is her first race… ever!"**

Wendy sat starkly in her seat as Mr. Diamond then spoke to her, "You know what to do, Wendy. I can't trust those dolts to out-drive him."

" **Now, the man most came to see. This year's No Limit World Race Winner, Prague Grand Prix Winner, and Yas Island Enduro Winner, the reigning WRL World Driver's Champion… Speed Racer in his all-new Mach 5-X!"**

The crowd erupted in cheers as Speed waved, "Alright! Let's go!" he shouted, getting pumped up for the race.

" **Next to him are three special cars, all developed by Godelian Autonomics called the T-180! And if you know Godelian Autonomics, you know that's Sonic 'Boom Boom' Renaldi's team, he drives the #43!"**

"Is there any doubt who the victor will be?" Sonic announced.

" **Next to Sonic is the eldest driver on the grid, open-wheel racing legend, the #2, the Gray Ghost!"**

"I'm gonna give everyone a real race here, don't you worry!" Gray Ghost promised as the crowd erupted yet again for the longtime racer, a section of the stands wearing shirts emblazoned with his #2 and sporting the dark gray with the light gray smoke that wrapped around his car.

" **And finally all the way to the right side of the line… racing for Iodyne Industries in the #34, Denise Mobile!"**

"For sure, you know who's gonna make this T-180 really sing as no one else could!" she shouted boisterously. The crowd was set and so were the drivers.

" **The race will begin soon. But before we do, this race doesn't have set laps, it is a timed race. There will be 1 hour on the clock and the clock will be stopped for accidents, there will also be one mandatory pit stop. Once the clock runs out, the drivers do one last lap and then the race will be completed once the leader takes the checkered flag. Are you ready racing fans?"** The massive stadium crowd cheered, the airwaves cluttered with teams chatting over the radio to their respective drivers as 5 red lights above the start/finish line lit up. 5 lights, then 4, then 3, then 2, then 1… waiting for the last light felt like an eternity… but as soon as it went out, Speed let go of the dual clutch which automatically put the Mach 5-X into 1st gear, and he mashed the throttle!

"Holy cow! Speed's reaction time was .018 seconds off the line!" Sparky yelled in disbelief as the Mach 5-X charged ahead of the other cars.

" _That was… impressive._ " Renaldi thought as the 5-X left the entire line in the dust.

" _Huge sticky tires and lots of power, that's what I'm talkin' about!_ " Speed grinned as he reached the corner turn loop! All 9 cars reaching the corner loop had well broken the 300 mph barrier, going at 350-370 going into the loop! Speed turned the wheel, the Mach 5-X's new 4-Wheel Steering complied as Speed turned the wheel ever so slightly to the left, the front wheels faced outward and the rear faced inward but as he was gaining confidence, Sonic Renaldi passed him!

"See, Speed? Pops can't beat my new technology! Never!" Renaldi said as all 4 wheels turned completely to one side, swiveling to compensate for the difference stunts.

" **Sonic Renaldi passed Speed Racer as they were on the apex of the loop! Completely upside down!"**

The cars went down low, and into the straightaway that led to the slalom section of the track, which is where the Mach 5-X caught back up and passed Chalk-Head, the 4-Wheel Steering being better than the T-180 on flat curves. They got to a straightaway that led up to the jump, "Alright, Speed… come on!" Renaldi jammed his right foot down and pressed two buttons on the steering column with his thumbs as an afterburner lit up on his car, sending him off the ramp!

" _I should be able to make this without using the aero-jacks._ " Speed thought and he was right, using his car's natural momentum to launch him off of the ramp without needing help from the jacks. He landed just behind Renaldi as they were nose to tail, going into a huge banked superspeedway turn where the Mach 5-X's superior ability to corner normally gained it the lead again as Speed skated his car under Sonic's, the other drivers watched the battle up front in awe.

"Hey, you three! Why isn't Speed Racer out of the race by now?" Mr. Diamond radioed to his three drivers.

"He got off the line too fast, boss!" Silver replied.

"He's really good, I don't think our cars stand up." Bronze said.

"I'm just watching for now. When are you gonna do your part and help us?" Wendy said.

"I'm sorry, I didn't expect you to need help right away. I expected some semblance of competence. But sure, I'll help you all right." Mr. Diamond thrust his headset into the chest of his new PA and stormed off.

Meanwhile, in the grandstands, Rex Racer watched Mr. Diamond's outburst from a pair of binoculars, " _I knew it! There's going to be trouble!_ " Rex made his way to the main building as he was approached by a couple of armed guards.

"Sir, you're not supposed to be here right now." One guard said, his hand resting on his gun.

"Oh, I'm sorry boys, I just forgot to get something from my room." Rex fibbed.

"You have a room card with you?" The guard asked.

"Yes, let me get it for you…" Rex searched for his wallet seeing the guard with hand on his gun, "...hey pal, there's no need for that."

"Sorry, sir." The guard looked embarrassed by basically threatening a guest, putting his hands behind his back instead.

"Oh jeez. Sorry, deep pockets…must be in my jacket." Rex took his jacket off and threw it at the front guard. The second guard was too surprised to reach for his gun and Rex knocked him out with one punch, as the second guard fell, he took his gun and smacked the other guard on the back of the neck, knocking him out right away. "Sorry guys, I know you're just doing your jobs." Rex said, taking their zip-cuffs, and tying the guards together. Rex then threw on his jacket and dragged them off and sat them down on folding chairs at the back of the building. Rex took the clip and ID card from the first guard so he could carry as much ammunition as possible. He actually reached into his jacket pocket and pulled his Racer X mask out, having it ready as he stuffed the pistol in the back of his pants. As he entered the building, he quickly had to hide behind a pillar, hearing Mr. Diamond rant.

"Darn them! I gave them some of the most powerful cars in the world and they can't even take out Speed Racer! I hoped I wouldn't have to step in, but I must if I'm to save racing once and for all." Mr. Diamond entered the elevator and went down to the sub-basement.

" _Take out Speed? Save racing? What is this…? I have to call Inspector Detector right away._ "

On the track, it was Renaldi who was in the lead again, going full speed up the 20-story-high corkscrew. Unfortunately for Speed, he had fallen behind, the T-180s were just too good on this portion of the track as he battled it out in the mid-field with Lovelace, and Silver as Bronze and Wendy were the back markers. "Come on, Racer!" Silver shouted, adrenaline pumping through his veins as he slammed into the side of the Mach 5-X!

"I'm warning you, Silver. You don't want to race me like that!" Speed replied, the sideswipe allowing Lovelace to get ahead of Speed into 4th.

"Haha! It's over now, Speed!" Silver threatened as Bronze took to Speed's flank.

"Yes… yes! Come on and get him!" Mr. Diamond shouted from his basement.

They reached the crest of the corkscrew as it went to the massive drop, the cars went straight down as Speed's better straight line power rocketed him past Silver and Bronze, causing them to collide into one another, "Hey, what's the big idea?" Speed thought aloud as they went into a vertical inversion loop where Speed caught up to Lovelace, passing her on the way down.

"Wow…" Lovelace gasped as Speed made his way right by her as they made their way to the last jump of the lap.

"Alright, this should be interesting." Speed said, catching up to Denise as they hit the jump. The Mach 5-X soared by her as Speed landed right next to Gray Ghost, passing him, and back into second place. Rinaldi led the first lap, but Speed was hot on his tail again with Gray Ghost not far behind.

"Fools had him right there! Fine then, time for the first trap." Mr. Diamond hissed, pressing a button marked, "Slalom Spikes".

After the corner loop had been taken, Speed and Ghost were side by side contending for the second position as visible tire spikes jutted at the very edges of the slalom, "Speed, look out!" Pops radioed.

"Huh? How come?"

"Spikes have mysteriously appeared at the edge of the slalom."

Speed looked over and there were, indeed spikes flanking him and Ghost, "What is this, Pops?"

"I'm guessing Sal Diamond had some surprises he told no one about. Remember your Safety 7 settings, Speed."

"I will, Pops." Speed acknowledged.

In the back of the field, Mr. Diamond's crew sailed into the slalom with Lovelace in front of them, "This was a genius idea." Silver said as they went through.

"This is bad." Mr. Bronze said shakily.

"What're you talking about you big baby? You're afraid of some spikes?"

"My car is too tight, it's not handling correctly!"

"Hang on then you sissy."

"I-I can't!" Mr. Bronze's tire got nearer to the spike trap.

"What'd I say? I swear, I never considered you a chicken until now!"

"I-I…. AHHHHHIIIEEEEEE!" The #30's tire got caught on one of the spikes and instantly punctured, catching the rubber, it flung the vehicle into the remaining spikes tearing at the carbon fiber violently as the car flipped and ripped going from 300 mph to 0 in seconds!

" **The track is under full course caution! The cars will slow down and line up double-file at the start/finish line!"**

The track cleaners looked on in horror as they walked up to the horrid mess they had to clean, noticing that the spikes had mysteriously disappeared.

 **Chapter III:** Expect the Unexpected, Resume Racing!

"Speed, this is Pops, come in please."

"I'm here, what is it?" Speed replied, parking at Renaldi's left rear in 2nd place.

"We've gotta talk about pit strategy."

"I'm all ears."

"Okay, so in these cars refueling isn't an issue, so you'll just have to come in for your last set of tires. Most everyone is going to come in when the clock hits 30 minutes, but I have a plan."

"Oh yeah?"

"We're gonna come in a lap after due to our advantage."

"Advantage, huh?"

"Yes. The T-180s are going to have a long time in the pits because they have to disconnect the tires from the 180 degree pivot and replace it since their tires are practically in cages. All we have to do is replace the tires like a normal car, just the one large lug in the middle. So we can do at least half a lap, if not more before they're done and we'll only spend 1 minute in the pits by comparison."

"That's a great idea, Pops. We'll do that."

"Roger that, Speed." Pops said as he put his headset down and looked behind him where Sparky and Trixie were huffing and puffing, getting the Mach 5-X's heavy and massive new tires ready, "Oh come now, it can't be that horrible." Pops said.

"I'll help, Pops." a voice came from outside.

"Huh?" The group went from confusion to surprise, "It's Hank!" Sparky and Trixie said simultaneously.

It was Hank Racer, Speed's cousin and the driver of the Mach 4! "That's right, it's me." Hank smiled.

Pops was beaming, "I'm glad to see you're alright, boy!"

"Thanks to you all and… definitely thanks to Rex. I was waiting until after the race, maybe show up to Speed's victory celebration to let you guys know I'm fully released from physical rehabilitation. But then Aunty and Spritle told me it was only you 3 in the pits and I came right away."

"But you just got out of the hospital, this pit work is very demanding, even if it's just one stop."

"I can handle it, Pops. I promise... I even have a plan to do it faster. It should take us no longer than 30 seconds let alone 1 minute."

Pops thought for a moment, mulling over the strategies in his head... Hank was right and Pops sighed, "Okay. What's your plan?"

"Yay!" Cheered the others as Hank let them in on his big plan.

Meanwhile, at the security desk in the lobby, Racer X was on the phone, "Inspector Detector, its Rex."

"Racer X? What's going on? What's the matter?"

"Did you see what just happened to Oliver Bronze?"

"Yes...what is this about, Rex?"

"What if I told you I followed Mr. Diamond into the lobby and heard him talking about taking out Speed?"

"Rex, you were told not to…"

"Wait, just hear me out for a moment. Those were spikes that deployed from the track without warning as soon as Speed entered the sector."

"That is true… hmmm…"

"Inspector, please. I need clearance to arrest Sal Diamond on conspiracy to murder."

"Do you know where he may be, Racer X?"

"I do. There's a sub-basement here, I saw the strange button when I went in the elevator, I even saw Mr. Diamond go into it and press the button in question."

"Then go. We'll talk about the disregard for orders later, X." Inspector Detector said as he hung up and got ready to go to the track. Racer X hung up and made his way over to the elevators, he managed to grip them a pry them open. He went to the stairway and started to make his way down.

"Hmmm, Racer X is here." Mr. Diamond said as he pressed a button on his console, "Security groups 1 through 4 get to the staircase, there's an intruder in the building. 5 and 6, get to the sub-basement, I can't have the CIB ruining my plans!"

Racer X ran down the winding stairs as he heard a ton of footsteps from above and below him, "Stop right there, Racer X!" a man yelled from atop the stairs. Racer X looked down and saw 8 men coming up and 8 coming down.

"You're making a mistake!"

"Sixteen of us and one of you? I don't think so."

"Oh yeah?" Racer X drew his gun and jumped over the end of the stair, shooting at the group, tagging at least 3 of them.

"Men down! Men down! Get the ropes!" Security repelled down to where Racer X was slow to get up after landing on the hard concrete, "Got you!"

"Not so fast!" Racer X fired three more shots and grabbed the rope, trying to drop the others repelling down. But one of the men swung down fast and kicked him! Racer X hit the wall as he threw the gun at the guy, punching him, then sending him over the edge with a shoulder tackle! Another man tried to push Racer X over with his own comrade, but Racer X was quick to respond to a shoulder throw as he turned around. He got close, making it hard for the henchmen to shoot and punched and kicked with all of his might. It got very difficult to fight on the stairs as he grabbed another gun and launched himself backwards, firing into the group until he hit has back against another wall almost knocking the breath out of him. "Had enough yet?" Racer X shouted.

"It looks like you have, Racer X!" a henchman that was part of the last 4-man team alive, shot at Racer X who rolled to the side, causing himself to fall down another flight of stairs. Racer X spit out blood, rubbing it off his lip as he aimed up the stairs and shot 2 of the 4 remaining men.

"I would get away, do what's smart!" Racer X said as bullets almost hit him, lodging themselves into the wall, "Fine then, be stupid!" the henchman came down and Racer X shot them right away. "Damn idiots." he muttered as he began walking down the remainder of stairs he had left.

Moments before Racer X's harrowing decent, on the Super Prix circuit, **"The caution has been lifted, and… green flag! The race resumes!"** The announcer shouted as the cars started off again with Speed taking the lead immediately, going into the corner-loop of turn 1 where he was taken over by Renaldi and Gray Ghost. But not Denise, as she was locked in a battle with Lovelace and Silver, Speed was the lone midfielder as he tried to catch the leaders on the jump but to his surprise, everyone bunched up all perfectly timing it as they went into the banked turn as a pack!

"Silver. Speed. Soon. Please. Racer X is here so the CIB cannot be close behind."

"Use my security detail if you want, obviously Bronze's is all yours." Silver said.

"Mourn him later, we have to save motorsport now."

"You got it, Sal. As soon as I'm within reach." Silver said as they entered the corkscrew, but then racing drama ensued, saving Speed's hide inadvertently.

" **Oh no! Drama in the corkscrew! Gray Ghost overcooks it and his T-180 spins, his nose facing the wrong end of the circuit! He tested the car's limit and he surely found it!"**

"Gah, darn it!" Ghost shouted as the pack swerved around him.

" _Not a chance here, the corkscrew is the only chance I got to catch Racer!_ " Silver thought as Speed made up tons of time on the big drop, into the loop and jump onto the front-straight, getting right next to Renaldi!

"I can't get rid of you!" Sonic shouted.

"Nope!" Speed replied with a big grin as the Mach 5-X got ahead leading the lap. To Sonic's surprise, as they got into turn 1, the Mach 5-X held on.

" _What? But I thought…_ " Renaldi looked on in shock.

" _Time to test these limits._ " Speed thought as he gave it all he could in the Mach 5-X.

" **WOW! Speed and Sonic Renaldi are side-by-side in T1! Unbelievable, where'd Speed get all that performance from?! You'd think he was on the final lap!"**

"Don't go too hard, Speed. We need to keep the tires for a few more laps." Pops radioed.

"You got it, Pops. I was just testing how much I could push."

"Understood. Keep going, son." Pops said.

Hank stood in the garage looking at the screens with a serious expression, his arms folded, "I something wrong, Hank?" Trixie asked.

"Nothing at all, Trixie…" Hank looked at her and smiled, "...but I was his racing coach after all."

"Oh, I get it, you're just in that mentality."

"That's right. Sorry if I made you worried." Hank chuckled.

"I understand, it's like the master watching the student."

"More than that. It's being the master watching the student surpass him… by a lot." Hank turned his attention to the front straight, the two watching Speed lead another lap, battling Sonic for position.

Mr. Diamond slammed his fist on the console, sweat beading off his face as gunshots could be heard through his reinforced doors, "Okay, the new obstacle… make the back straightaway not so straight anymore." he pressed a button as the racers entered the banked corner after the big jump.

"Speed! Hit the brakes!" Pops shouted loudly over the radio as segments of the back straight leading to the corkscrew dropped, "Parts of the back straight have just broken off for no reason! Stop the car!" Speed pulled to the bottom of the banked turn and stopped, the other cars passing him.

"Ha! He's most definitely done for!" Silver said over the radio as he used his afterburners to leapfrog, but the other cars were using… mechanic auto jacks!

"What on Earth happened, Pops?"

"I don't know, but I need you to quickly look at your steering wheel. One of the dials, the one on the top-left is aero-jack power. I need you to set that to 10%, you can hop the segments that way without burning too much fuel."

"Pops, I noticed the others have mechanical jacks like on the Mach 5!"

"I noticed that too, Speed. There's going to be lawsuits in order, you can bet. But right now, you need to rejoin because you're way behind and they're halfway up the corkscrew!"

Speed set the aero jack power dial to 10%, "Alright, here goes nothing!" Speed floored the Mach 5-X and pressed the A-Button. The side-mounted exhausts of the Mach 5-X exploded with a thrust enough to jump the Mach 5-X from platform to platform until Speed got to the corkscrew.

"Are you serious?!" Mr. Diamond screamed, watching Speed succeed yet again at defeating his traps.

The cars were crossing the start/finish as Speed reached the corkscrew, but he made up a ton of time going downhill, it took a full lap for Speed to catch Wendy, who was still hanging at the back of the field, who mysteriously let him pass her. Speed got next to Lovelace and drove side-by-side up the corkscrew, passing her as they went back down. Up ahead was Sonic in first, Silver in second after using his afterburner, Denise in third, and Gray Ghost in fourth, with Speed close behind.

"The barricade! The spikes!" Mr. Diamond was getting hysterical, pressing the spike button and pulling the barricade lever as Racer X was pounding at his door.

"Mr. Diamond, I know exactly what you're doing! Open up! The CIB have locked your elevator externally, you're trapped!" Racer X yelled.

"Get by the door, guards!" Mr. Diamond said as hot sweat streamed down his face.

"What the?!" Speed shouted as a huge wall popped up in front of the turn after the vertical loop! Speed cranked the aero jack to 100% and pressed the A-Button, the Mach 5-X shot into the air, deploying its gliders! The entire crowd gasped in wide-eyed amazement as the Mach 5-X gently landed, retracting the wings.

" **Incredible! I've never seen anything like this in my entire life! Whatever strange thing is happening to the track, the Mach 5-X seems to have an answer for it!"** The announcer said as sections of the crowd began chanting "Go Speed Go! Go Speed Go!" The Mach 5-X roaring by them at an amazing velocity!

"Sparky!" Pops shouted.

"Huh?! What?" Sparky jumped.

"Get the fuel tank ready, we're not gonna make it on fuel like this." Pops ordered.

"Yes, sir!" Sparky said, taking the tank they had placed in the corner and rolling it up to the garage door.

"Trixie, I'm going to need you to fill the car and give Speed his new water bottle. The fueling port is under the main air intake that sits above Speed, got it? Make sure to take the fire-proof smock, it's the reflective thing on the nozzle." Pops said.

"I can do that, easy." Trixie confirmed, putting the reflective smock on.

"Good. This is becoming harder and harder every lap." Pops grunted, rubbing the sweat from his face as the front pack passed by them, with Speed following close behind. He started to catch even more as he went around the corner loop but the spikes took him off-guard! He swerved to avoid them but his right-rear tire grazed one of the spikes!

"The on-board computer is reading a puncture on the right-rear!" Sparky shouted to Pops.

"Speed, you have a puncture on the right-rear!" Pops relayed.

"It's a slow leak whatever it is! I just grazed the tire spikes!"

"Press the B-Button anyway! It'll slow you down considerably, but it'll slow the leakage down!"

"Okay!" Speed pressed the B and A Buttons at once, sending the Mach 5-X into the air and deploying the tank-tread-like casing on the tires. "Fuel is low, I forgot to turn the aero-jacks back to 10%!" Speed said.

"It's okay, Speed. Lucky for you the others are pitting now, do another lap and pit-in. I repeat, another lap and pit-in."

"Roger that!" Speed said as he pushed it harder, the grip-tires being able to take the punishment, he made his way to the top, dropping down into the loop and the barricade had left so he didn't have to use any more fuel! The Mach 5-X leapt to the front straight and blasted by the cars in the pits.

"Smart strategy, Pops Racer. Smart strategy indeed." Renaldi muttered, watching Speed take the lead as his crew had to take all 4 of this 180 degree pivoting wheels off.

"Nothing's working, Boss!" Silver said as the non-T-180's like him returned to the track.

"Well, it had better start, Silver! It had better start soon!" Mr. Diamond roared over the radio.

"I'm glad we're coming in, the car's getting shaky." Speed said, his lead having grown to a lap as he pulled into the pits as Denise pulled out. Speed stopped the Mach 5-X and Trixie hooked in the fuel nozzle, then handing Speed a water bottle that Speed drank until he saw Sparky and Hank coming out of the garage! He almost spit his water out, "Hank!" He said.

"We're here, Speedy." Hank said as Pops lifted the left side of the car with a dolly, allowing Sparky and Hank to change the left tires. They then ran to the other side, Pops lifting the right side, and they changed that pair of tires.

"Hank… how…" Speed tried to mutter as they waited for the car to finish fueling.

Hank laughed, "I was gonna wait until the race was won before coming to show you how well my physical rehabilitation went. But when I saw the family needed help in the pits right away, I came here ASAP."

"Thanks, Hank. This is for you."

"Nah, Speed. This is for every Racer." Hank replied as the nozzle made a *clunk* signaling the car was full. Trixie pulled the nozzle out and Hank shouted, waving forward, "Now go Speed go!"

Speed smirked and slammed the gas, the fire roaring out of its pit box and down pit lane, rejoining the race still in 1st! " _It worked! The strategy worked!_ " Speed thought as he entered Turn 1 with the rest of the pack closing in. It was a masterful move until the racing gods reared their ugly heads, the struggle was far from over.

As Speed was going around the banked turn, the announcer's voice boomed over the stadium, **"There's a slow car on the exit of the Turn 1 loop… it's Denise Mobile! Oh no! The pivot of one of her front wheels was loose and the wheel came off! That's a full-course caution! Drama for Denise Mobile, she's out of the race! Disaster for Speed Racer! The leader's strategy is now nullified by the caution as the pack comes to the start/finish line!"**

"No! You're kidding!" Speed shouted.

"Calm down, Speed. Look at the bright-side, there's one less T-180 out of your hair; we're gonna figure out a new plan and put it into action soon." Pop replied as the pack lined back up.

" **A Chinook helicopter has been deployed with hooks to hoist Denise's car in the air and lift it out of the stadium. He missing wheel fell below the track. Lucky for her, she's okay."** the announcer said as the track was cleaned and reset.

Meanwhile again, Racer X took painful breaths as he got himself mentally ready to knock Sal Diamond's door down, he took two guns off of the henchman he fought and put them in his belt, he took the two guns he already had and pointed them at the door's bolt. He took a deep breath and fired! The bullets hit the door, but that's when the door pushed outward with a force as the henchman that were with Mr. Diamond knocked him over and were able to disarm him!

"Don't kill him!" Mr. Diamond ordered, "Bring him here and tie him up. I want him to watch."

Racer X scowled, "I don't get it Diamond. Why? Why are you trying to kill Speed Racer?"

Mr. Diamond sighed, "It's rather simple, honestly. I want to kill him to save all of motorsports." he said as the race resumed on the screen. Mr. Diamond stood to the side so Racer X could see the race was back on, "Look at him, Racer X. Look at how he gets in front like that, look at how he pushes more distinguished drivers like Sonic Renaldi and Gray Ghost, even though he's just a second year driver."

"I don't get it. You hate Speed so much you want him killed?"

"It's not just that I hate him. It's that I love racing and I want to save it."

"I'm afraid that I don't follow."

"When someone wins too often, it ruins everything. Because eventually, it become obvious that the winners are just cheating. I used to pull for Racer Motors and the GO Team when Hank Racer was racing with the Mach 4, they used to be underdogs. But then Speed got old enough to race and just had to enter his first professional race in the Mach 5. I was happy his first handful of wins… but I soon got enraged at his winning…"

As Mr. Diamond prattled on, Racer X twisted his wrists to weaken the plastic of his zip tie restraints, " _Speed… be careful…_ " Racer X thought before cutting off Mr. Diamond's monologue, "Why don't you use all your traps then? They just go away after a while? What kind of design is that?"

"Ah yes, my beautiful traps. It's simple, Racer X. The barrier was a single use because the power it takes to make an obstacle that big is staggering, the backstretch was rigged to blow so there's no way it can build itself and then break apart again, and my spikes… well… they've killed one of my colleagues and now I've learned Speed has a defense for that so I can't use them. But there is… one more trap." Mr. Diamond pointed at a red lever, "Use your imagination to figure out what this does, Racer X. But don't use too much energy, I'm sure you'll see soon enough."

" _Oh no… my brother's in danger and for once… for once I can't save him!_ " Racer X thought as Mr. Diamond went to his console and took a microphone between his thumb and index.

He looked at Racer X devilishly, "Mr. Silver. The time is now." he said into the mic as Racer X looked on in horror.

 **Chapter IV:** The Final Leg

"You got it, boss." Silver said as he gave his car everything it had as he passed Gray Ghost on the banked corner, catching up with Speed. As they hopped across the platforms, he jump over Speed, the mechanical jack just missing Speed's face.

"Whoa! What's the big idea, Silver?" He shouted. Silver tried the move again, Speed pressed the D Button, deploying the protective canopy, the mechanical jack scraped across it and snapped in two as they landed at the entrance to the corkscrew.

"What in the world is Silver doing?!" Gray Ghost shouted.

"Do not engage, Gray. Hang back and do not engage." Gray's team boss said.

"No way, I'm not letting Speed get beheaded by that maniac! I'm arming my quick release!" Gray said.

"Gray do not throw this race away!" His team boss warned.

"Shut up, Jeff!" Gray Ghost shouted as he turned his radio off, his wheels turning to optimize his ascent on the corkscrew, he quickly made his way up to Speed and Silver who were clashing side-by-side, "I got you, Speed!" Gray Ghost said as he slammed his car into the rear of Silver's car.

"Ghost!" Speed said in surprise, lowering his canopy by pressing the D Button again.

"I got him, Speed! There's something fishy going on here, I think Silver has something to do with it, Bronze definitely did."

"You don't have to do this for me...ah!" Speed grunted as the downhill portion began.

"Don't worry about it, but you definitely owe me a race when this is all over!"

Silver screamed, "No way! Ahhhhhhh!"

"Deploy quick release!" Ghost said as they hit the jump. Ghost's seat ejected as his car smacked Silver's car sideways in mid-air. Gray Ghost's seat became encased in an airbag as he rolled to the track.

Speed put the canopy back up as the two cars exploded in-front of him! Debris bounced off of the Mach 5-X as it blew through the explosion with scorch and scuff marks adorning the once pearly white car.

" **An incredible crash brings out the 3rd caution of the race! Only Sonic, Lovelace, Speed, and Wendy remain in the race!"**

"No! What the hell happened?!" Mr. Diamond screamed.

"That's the effect Speed has on people, Diamond. You wouldn't understand such-a-thing." Racer X replied.

"Shut up!" A henchman yelled, punching Racer X in the stomach, Racer X groaned in pain.

"Fine, if that's how we're gonna play this game!" Racer X broke free of his restraints and punched the henchman in the gut before hitting him with an uppercut to the chin! The other seven surrounded him, guns drawn as Racer X stood and looked for cover. He acted fast and grabbed the knocked out henchman's gun as he rolled away behind a metal box.

"No matter… the race is definitely afoot now." Mr. Diamond said as shots were exchanged behind him, "Wendy, you're our last hope to take out Speed Racer, you know what to do!"

"Is that a firefight in the background? What's going on over there?" She asked as the race resumed and she continued to hang back in last.

"Never mind that, Wendy! Never mind that! Just end him, end Speed Racer! Get into the fight now! Now! Now!" Mr. Diamond said as he went radio silent.

Wendy then gave her car more power, she had to first contend with Lovelace as Speed and Sonic began battling again, "Gotta get this little girl outta my way." she said to herself.

Lovelace looked in her mirror and saw the distinct brushed steel look of Wendy's Three Roses Club car, " _I remember the Three Roses from the No Limit World Race and they caused me and Speed lots of trouble. I can't let them win today._ " Lovelace thought as she blocked off Wendy from being able to pass as they entered the multiple platforms. The two women drivers in a battle where, were there a mistake, they'd most surely crash and burn below as they hopped the platforms and got to the 20-story corkscrew. Wendy pulled alongside as Lovelace moved too late and ended up bashing into her rival. Wendy retaliated with a sideswipe of her own.

" **Look at this! Wendy and Lovelace Goldminter, battling in the corkscrew ascent! This is real racing here at the Diamond Super Prix!"**

"Try this out, little girl." Wendy said as she spun Lovelace out at the big drop. The Three Roses Member sped ahead to the loop as Lovelace was spinning out of control down a skyscraper sized drop!

"Oh no! Oh no!" She said over and over as she turned the wheel in various directions, trying to stabilize her car as much as she possibly could. Her top-like vehicle entered the loop backwards and she just closed her eyes and screamed! But luckily for her, her car had decelerated enough going up the loop that she could correct it! She realized if she just sat there and screamed, she'd fall flat upside down, still whimpering, trying to hold her fear in, she spun her car back around and mashed the gas as her car nearly came to a stop at the apex of the loop. But she was able to fix it in the nick-of-time as she decelerated back down the loop and into the jump.

" **A harrowing situation for Lovelace Goldminter there! But unless there's a caution, she's out of contention for this race, she's just too far back to get to the main group in time! With the time we have let, plus the final lap, we have maybe 5 laps to go!"**

Mr. Diamond sighed in relief, as his last henchman fell to Racer X's smoking gun, Racer X threw the gun aside and grabbed Diamond by his shirt, slamming him against the console! "You seem oddly relieved. Is Lovelace part of all this?! It'd make sense with the names you people have!"

"N-No! No her father, Johan Goldminter! He's a friend, he's Mr. Gold!"

"Oh yeah? Why wasn't he in the race?"

"He was supposed to be the tenth entrant, he was! But then when he found out about my traps, h-he-he quit!"

"He knew all this time and didn't tell the police, the CIB, or Speed? Why?"

"He i-is m-my close friend after all! Who do you think helped fund the buzz saw-drones and car-zilla in the Trans-Africa Race? He wanted Speed out of Lovelace's way without her knowing!"

"So the truth comes out about you. You accuse the Racer family of cheating but you helped fix the Trans-Africa Grand Prix. A man obsessed with hating fixed races is a fixer himself." Racer X growled but noticed Mr. Diamond looking at the screen.

"This is what Wendy was waiting for, folks! A late charge in the race as she and Speed enter the corkscrew side-by-side as they nibble at Sonic Renaldi's heels!"

"What? What are you looking at, Diamond?" Racer X barked.

"My chance." Mr. Diamond flailed his arm, knocking down his final trap!

Wendy pushed her car onto Speed's forcing him near the outside wall of the Corkscrew, but as they came to the top, the wall of the corkscrew opened! "OH!" Speed exclaimed as Wendy swerved and bashed Speed, knocking him out of the corkscrew, into a 20-story free fall! But she hit him with such power that she also launched herself off of the edge of the corkscrews summit!

"SPEED!" Racer X shrieked.

"NO!" Trixie held her hands in front of her eyes as she cried out in horror!

"I'VE FINALLY GOT HIM!"

" **What is that? The Corkscrew opened and Speed Racer and Wendy have fallen out, this is horrible!"**

Speed forced his eyes open, they tried to close because of how much utter fear he was experiencing. But he was able to press the G Button on his steering column, the back of his car was so heavy that the Mach 5-X's nose faced the sky… two flaps opened above the left and right prongs and out shot two ultra-strong grappling hooks! The two only life lines that Speed had rushed upwards, until they lodged themselves into the bottom of one of the levels of the corkscrew turn; Wendy's Three Roses Club car fell past Speed smashing into fiery bits below. Speed laid his head back on the seat and closed his eyes, breathing heavily as the grapples automatically pulled him upwards.

" **Folks, I sadly can't say the same for Wendy… but Speed Racer and the Mach 5-X have been saved by some extremely clever engineering."**

"What?! NO! NOOOO!" Mr. Diamond yelled as Racer X clocked him as hard as he could across the jaw as Inspector Detector ran in with a slew of armed CIB agent.

"My god… Racer X, did you do all this?"

"I did what I had to, Inspector."

Inspector Detector looked down at the incapacitated Mr. Diamond, "Sal Diamond… did you?"

"No, he's regrettably alive. He's just gonna sleep for the rest of his race."

"So… this was the big secret huh?" The Inspector looked at the screen.

"Yes, he was using this to control traps around the track and almost killed Speed with them on numerous occasions. His drivers were also dirty."

"What about Lovelace Goldminter? There is a pattern with the names here." Inspector Detector asked, stroking his beard watching Speed's car hoist itself back over the edge of the track.

"Lovelace isn't involved, but her father surely is. Diamond sung like a canary, he's got cameras everywhere, and you can check them."

Inspector Detector put his hand on X's shoulder, "As much as I hate the amount of death here, you've done a fine job, Racer X. Now go rest, you deserve to see how this race is going to play out."

Racer X gave a sigh of relief, "Yes sir." he complied, taking off his mask and being escorted upstairs by his fellow CIB agents and brought to the seat he paid for in the grandstands.

 **Chapter V:** The REAL Final Leg of the Race

At the starting line remained 3 cars, with 3 laps to go. Sonic Renaldi, Speed Racer, and Lovelace Goldminter, the stage was set for a complete mad dash. "How good are we on fuel and tires? Can I go all out?" Speed asked.

"You're going to have to, Speed. You're definitely going to have to. Show them why the papers called you a 'Demon on Wheels', son."

"Roger that." Speed said as the flag person held the green flag all furled up, telling the drivers to get ready for this final sprint. The three cars revved hard until the flag unfurled and waved freely!

The drivers all got off the line rather quickly, but it was Renaldi who took advantage this time, as he and Lovelace passed Speed up. They entered the corner loop and into the slalom, Trixie came on the radio, "You have to loosen up, Speed. I know what almost happened, but you have to win this race."

"I know, Trixie. I know. I'm just a little apprehensive right now." Speed's voice shook as he landed the first jump.

"Remember, your whole family is really counting on you to win. You can't have doubts now, you have to race with all your might!" she cheered as the three entered the corkscrew.

" **They're all bunched up as they go into the corkscrew, Renaldi pulling out a bit of a lead because of his abilities, but it's seriously close!"**

"Hey, Speed."

"Yeah, Trixie?"

"Remember how confident you were when you did your first handbrake turn with me in the car just to show off?"

"Girls love a good handbrake turn." Speed grinned.

Trixie laughed, "Well, I was scared out of my wits, Speed Racer." she playfully scolded.

" **Two laps to go! The order is Sonic Renaldi, Lovelace Goldminter, and Speed Racer!"**

Trixie continued as she, Hank and Pops watched the three cars pass by, "The point is, that confidence… you've gotta channel it somehow. Just, whatever you were feeling back then… you have to find it."

"I guess I get what you're saying." Speed got near Lovelace's rear, going high on the banked turn into the platforms, "You want me to impress you?"

"No… I want you to show the world what happens when you try to beat Speed Racer and no matter what any villain tries they just can't do it."

"Ohhh, you want me to flaunt how good I am, is that it?" Speed maneuvered the Mach 5-X down the big drop.

"Bingo."

"One ass-whooping coming right up." Speed grinned.

"Language!" Pops called through the headset.

"Speed, the Mach 5-X has one last trick, you have just enough fuel to pull this off for one lap going all out." Sparky said, grabbing the headset from Pops.

"What is it, Sparky, quickly!"

"Speed, I need you to overclock the Mach 5-X!"

"Huh?"

"I need you to put every dial on 100%, it'll load the overclock program."

"But won't that break the car?"

"It'll put it to its breaking point, yes. But I trust you'll know how to handle her. After all, she is a 'Mach' series car… you know how Pops and I build em' Speed. Go for it!"

" **Speed Racer is a little behind having lost time fiddling with his dials as the three cross the line to take the white flag! Final lap!"**

The Mach 5-X had unleashed so much power it pushed Speed back in the seat as it hurled down the straightaway leading to the turn 1 corner loop, " _I've already hit 400 mph!_ " Speed thought, as he entered the loop, catching up to Lovelace into the entrance of the slalom.

"What the?!" Lovelace got out of the way as Speed passed her without any problems as Speed deployed his 100% power aero-jacks on the first jump, the wings deploying as he glided to the ground, landing right beside Sonic Renaldi!

" _450 miles per hour!_ " Speed continued as he entered the banked turn, going next to Sonic Renaldi.

"No way…. No way am I letting you beat me Speed!" Both cars smashed into each other as they leapt over the platforms at full power, upon the entrance to the corkscrew, "Here is where I beat you, Speed Racer!"

"Not today, Renaldi! You're not getting rid of me that easily this time!" Speed pressed the B Button, deploying the grip tires so he didn't fall too far behind!

"Sonic, you need to fix your pace, you're overloading the battery." Renaldi's team boss radioed in.

"I can't let him beat me! I won't!" Renaldi answered.

"Sonic, if you keep going like this, you **will** deplete your battery at the summit and the T-180 system will stop working."

"To Hell with it, then! I can take the loss, it's just a straight shot to the finish after this!"

"Sonic…" Renaldi had turned his radio off, pushing his T-180 as hard as it could go, unable to shake Speed Racer.

"Impossible! This is impossible!" he panicked as they reached the summit, predictably, his dashboard was all red, telling him that his battery was depleted. As he looked over to Speed, he noticed him smiling and waving. This immediately infuriated Renaldi, who smashed into Speed, sending them spinning downhill, but in his rage, Renaldi had already forgotten that his T-180 wheels were no there to save him and he was out of control as he fell.

Speed, on the other hand had closed his eyes and was smiling as he spun, opening his eyes, seeing the loop up ahead, where he shifted down to get the RPM's up as he smashed the pedal, Lovelace passed him by on the loop, but it didn't last long as the Mach 5-X's overclock mode was just too powerful as he re-overtook her while they were upside down at "555 miles per hour!" Speed yelled.

" **Speed and Lovelace are coming out of the loop into the big jump! The checkered flag it waiting for the victor!"** Speed pressed the A Button, flying over the jump, gently landing on the other side, **"Speed lands it safely! Here he comes to the flag!"**

"YEAH! WE WIN!" Speed roared over his engine as he crossed the line with Lovelace following over 1 second behind him.

" **Speed Racer you are the champion of the Super Prix!"**

"Yes! **Yes!** " Pops yelled as the entire GO Team cheered, running onto the track after Renaldi limped his T-180 across the finish line as Rex smiled from the grandstands before he got up and left the track.

"Hey, everything okay, Speed?" Hank asked, as Speed only undid his harness.

"I maxed it out a 555 miles per hour on that last lap. All in all, it was like being on a rollercoaster for over an hour… I think I'm gonna sit here for a little while." Speed laughed.

"Hey, great race, Speed!" Lovelace congratulated, coming to Speed's cockpit.

"Thank you, Lovelace! You drove a very smart race yourself." Speed replied, the two competitors shaking hands.

Until a security officer whispered something to Lovelace, her smile faded for just a moment before she said, "Sorry I can't stick around, I have to go. Congratulations, Speed!" she waved as she left with a group of personal escorts.

"I wonder what that was all about." Hank said.

"Mmmhmm, same here. I hope she's okay." Speed added as a ton of confetti launchers erupted over the start/finish.

"Look at it all, Speed!" Trixie cheered as the rainbow of confetti fell to the track.

Speed grabbed the sides of the cockpit as he shakily stood back up, "Whoa there, buddy." Hank said, stepping up to help Speed stand tall and look upon all of his fans that came to see the ceremony.

"Alright, yeah!" Speed cheered, making the crowd erupt in cheers with him as Hank helped him to the ground.

The race officials walked up to Speed with the winning trophy, the base of it was white and the sculpture was a golden vertical loop like the one at the end of the track, 'Diamond Super Prix' was etched on glass situated within the loop, "Speed Racer, on behalf of Mr. Sal Diamond I present you with this trophy."

"Thank you very much. Say, where is Mr. Diamond?"

"He sadly couldn't be here, he had some personal business to attend to."

Speed shrugged, "Well, I hope I can shake his hand soon." as he turned and raised the trophy over his head in victory as the crowd continued to cheer.

"We'll meet again, Speed Racer… and when I do… I'll beat you and I'll outsmart Pops." Renaldi thought to himself as he looked out from his hauler at the celebration in defeat.

 _Speed has just won the fastest race of his life, did he usher in a new era of racing? Or has Mr. Diamond's arrest by Racer X ended the idea of the Super Prix before it had a chance to begin? Sadly, we'll never know. But, if you stay tuned, we will know what happens in the next exciting episode of… Speed Racer!_

 **[Outro Music]**

 **WRITER'S NOTE:** Thanks for reading this absolutely massive episode of Speed Racer, everyone! I'm going back to take a little break on this to work on my second novel, "Special Defense Unit Volume II: Fray". If you like my writing with Speed Racer, which is 3 drafts of work, then you might be interested in checking out my professional original stories which are up to 8 drafts. You can buy "Special Defense Unit Volume I: UNITE!" on Amazon both in digital and in paperback formats right now! I hope you pick up my novel and I hope you stick around for more Speed Racer, too! Thanks for enjoying my stories!


	14. Quest of the Masked Racer

Speed Racer: Quest of the Masked Racer

[Intro Music]

 **Chapter I: Getting Old**

The Shooting Star's Turbo V8 burbled idly before roaring to life as Racer X raced around his private circuit. He grinned as he took a left flat-out, putting just enough pressure on the brakes, he went right and left through a set of S turns before plowing the gas into a straightaway! As he went around and around, Racer X noticed the pitter-pattering of rain on his windshield; he felt nostalgic for rain conditions ever since his one on one with Speed over a year ago…his grin faded as he was reminded of the letter he wrote that almost killed his little brother, "Speed, the race is too dangerous for someone of low experience like you to handle. The racing world is ruthless and difficult; it's not a game. You're not ready to be a professional racer, listen to your father, and stay away at all costs. -Racer X"

Racer X kept driving as fast as he could as the rain became worse; his memories continued to flood him as he drove, "Speed don't!" He remembers shouting as his kid brother jumped into the Mach 5 and sped off, forcing Racer X to give chase, but it didn't remain a chase for very long. He remembers seeing the rear end of the Mach 5 step out and smack the guard rails, the slippery surface unfamiliar to Speed at the time. He remembers the worry turning to anger as he started to race Speed; he wanted to teach him a lesson in the dangers of racing. It was all a blur until he saw Speed passed out beside his car after a stack of logs was cut by a member of the Alpha Team trying to kill him.

More memories flooded his mind, "You'll be my legs, and at the same time, I'll be your eyes..." He lied during the Alpine Race, helping Speed win despite the injury to Speed's eyes, the hot sun blinding him temporarily. Racer X sacrificed so much for his brother, except what was essential to sacrifice; his pride. That's what kept him away from home: pride. Rex ran away and became a winner, he won the 24hrs of Le Mans on his own where most teams required multiple cars and a team of up to 3-4 drivers per-car to complete the race, he became a world champion, and he became a legend. He was too proud to walk back home with slouching shoulders to beg for forgiveness. But he knew it was his last task, and he didn't know how to do it because of how much he had changed.

" _But I'm getting older now. I'll be 31 next year. I've accomplished things far beyond my years. Everything except for doing the mature thing to do, and that's to confront the last thing in my life to confront, and it's my own family."_ he thought to himself, _"I've got to do something... I've got to."_ he thought as he turned out of his private track and bolted down his private driveway and onto the road as he took his car's radio, tuning it into the Mach 5's frequency, "Speed, I need you to meet with me alone. You know where." he said as he steered towards the Racer family's church, the hallowed grounds of Thunderhead.

 **Chapter II: Speed Racer vs. Racer X**

It was night as the Shooting Star came upon Thunderhead's competitor entrance, it rolled into the pits, and as Racer X turned, he didn't see Speed, _"Where could he be? He lives right down the road."_ Racer X wondered as he drove out onto the track for a flying lap and to put some heat into his tires. As he came around the final banked turns and back onto the front straightaway, the iconic underslung yellow lights came into view in his rearview mirror, the Mach 5's high beams flashed rapidly behind him, non-verbal racing code for, 'I'm going to pass you.'

Racer X grinned, _"Where did he come from? Was he stalking behind me all along?"_ the challenge was on again, as Racer X's foot lowered onto the gas as the Mach 5 gained. He knew he couldn't pull a massive gap on Speed, but he sure could defend against his attack as they went into the snake curves into the hairpin turn, where Speed caught up quickly, the bright red "M" now completely visible. They made their way to the carousel, Racer X swaying to the inside to defend and making Speed take the long way around the turn, Racer X lightly pressed the brakes, heel-toe to downshift before pressing on the pedal again mid-way through the corner to exit at maximum acceleration. Speed followed suit, being wise and braking a little earlier, dropping in close behind Racer X, following close behind through the turn and out into the short straight before the final banked 'Daytona turns' of the track. The slipstream was so strong, the middle-prong of the Mach 5's pronounced forward spikes was centimeters away from the bright yellow rear-end of the Shooting Star, Racer X glanced in his mirror again able to see the bright red ascot flapping in the wind, the track's lights reflecting across the clear visor of the white helmet. They exited the final banked curve, Speed was going too fast to stay behind and pulled outperforming a textbook slingshot maneuver, the Mach 5 pulled next to the Shooting Star, the V12 roaring with the ferocity of a streak of angry tigers! The start/finish came closer, and there was nothing Racer X could do as Speed was able to pull half a car-length on him, winning their little one-lap skirmish!

The cars slowed down and did a cool-down lap before pulling back into the pits, coming to a complete stop, Speed unbuckled and hopped out of the Mach 5, "Racer X, is everything alright? What was this about?" he asked.

Racer X opened the door, the white and blue number 9 swinging out as he calmly stood, closing the door behind him and leaning on it, Racer X chuckled, "I just wanted to race you, Speed. I guess I felt rusty, and I was right."

Speed became confused, "Huh? That's all?"

" _No. No more excuses, you can't do this again."_ Racer X's thoughts attacked his anxiety as he sighed, "Actually, no it's not, Speed." he took a deep breath as he raised his hands to the strap under his chin, unbuckling his mask and taking it off, dropping it to the tarmac, "I want to come back."

Speed's eyes widened, "A-Are, you sure?"

"I am, Speed. I can tell you're unsure what to call me right now and call me Rex," he said.

"What brought this on, Rex?"

"The last mission I went on at Mr. Diamond's Stunt Car GP put things into perspective for me. I almost failed, and you almost died, I almost wasn't there in the nick-of-time this time, and I couldn't live with it. I can't live with not knowing Spritle, he's my brother too, but we don't see each other as brothers because I wasn't there when he was born like I should've been. I have to come back home before it's too late."

"I'm glad to hear that…" Speed smiled, taking his helmet off and tucking it under his arm, "...I think Pops wants the same, and I know for sure that Mom does. When we had our first race last year, he told me what happened between you two, and he was ashamed for lack of a better word."

"But you know Pops, if he's faced with me his pride will take over. I'm just afraid of him blowing up at me again."

"Pride is the downfall of our family, huh?"

"We're all just competitive. All of us love racing; we all live to win, even if that means winning an argument."

"Well, we'll never know until you try, Rex. Come on, let's go home." Speed waved over to Rex as he hopped in the Mach 5 and started the engine.

Rex knelt and tossed his mask into the brown leather passenger seat of the Shooting Star, the white lights turned on as he cranked it over, _"You're right, Speed. This is just another challenge...another challenge to win, and the only way to win this is to admit defeat."_ Rex thought as the two peeled out of Thunderhead, and made their way to the quaint home of the Racer family.

 **Chapter III: Acceptance**

The cars burbled up to the short driveway of the white single-floor house; Speed pulled the Mach 5 into the garage as Rex parked in the driveway. As he got out of the car, Speed held up a finger which told Rex to wait a moment, and he went inside, "What? Racer X is here?" Pops said surprised. Rex could hear his father from inside. Only a second later, Pops emerged from the garage entrance, pulling his trusty white cap on, "What is this, Speed? Why does Racer X want to talk with me?"

"Go ahead. I'll be right here." Speed pushed his father out of the garage as Pops Racer laid eyes on the yellow GT car.

"Racer X! What can I do for…" he was cut off as the tall man emerged from the car.

"Hi, Pops." Rex greeted.

"Rex?" Pops was taken aback.

"Yes, Pops. It's me...I'm Racer X."

"But...how?"

"Well, I…"

"How could you abandon us all like that?!" Pops yelled, "How could you up and leave us? Your mother? Speed? Spritle? Hank? You left everyone behind!"

"Dear, is everything okay?" Mom asked, peering out from the front door as she saw her first son standing before Pops, with Spritle peeking from behind her green dress.

Rex closed his eyes and looked to the ground, "I know, Pops. I was a stupid kid who made a stupid decision. I took the Mach 1 to impress you, and I blew it, big time. To this day, I have no idea what you were thinking. When I was training with the legendary Kabala, I faked my death as Rex Racer to become Racer X full-time; the car was remotely controlled, and the Rex Racer in the cockpit was a dummy made to burn to ash immediately, I deliberately crashed it. I was a coward and too wrapped up in myself, I was stupid, and I'm sorry."

This put Pops at a full pause, the former wrestler folded his big arms in a bid to look tough but released them, slacking them to his sides, "That's...all I ever wanted to hear you say, son. I'm sorry for blowing up at you the way I did, and threatening your dreams of being a racer. I shouldn't have done it, and I didn't understand the power I wielded over you, son. Owning and building racing cars is something I've always done, I saw years after how that threat was genuine to you, and you saw no other way to pursue racing but to run and join another team. I took Mifune Motors for granted."

Rex took his black driving glove off and held it to Pops, "I'm sorry Pops... I'm tired, and I just want to come home."

Pops looked at his son's hand and took it without hesitation, pulling Rex in and hugging him, "I'm proud of the racer you've become, Rex. Welcome home." Pops cried out as Mom came out joined the hug, as Speed smiled from the garage, watching Spritle shyly approach Rex, who took candy from his pocket and smiled wider than he had before, laughing as Spritle snatched everything Rex had.

" _Finally, Rex. We can close the door on this. We can be a family again."_ Speed thought as he went to join his family.

 _Rex has returned to his family that he had been separated from for so many years. Now with Rex back and Hank back behind the Mach 4, the Racer family is whole again! Now they together will overcome all of the thrills that await on the next episode of, Speed Racer!_

[Outro Music]

Author's Note: Thanks for reading this installment of Speed Racer Season 2! I know it's been a very, very long time since Stunt Car Grand Prix Part 2, but I was writing my second novel, ("Special Defense Unit Vol. II: Fray", Out Now!) so I didn't have the energy to focus on fanfiction. But now that it's out and I can have a break from the serious stuff for a while, I can go back to writing Speed Racer Season 2. Hopefully, I'll finish it this year so I can start my next project. Stay Tuned for the next episode, "Race Against the Sun (Part 1)"


End file.
